The Story of a Man Named Seth
by OjamaThom111
Summary: West Gardens University Sophomore Michael Jackson is running out of time. He has to turn in an English paper with only less than a day to do it! The prompt: an interesting and creative story. Michael looks around Radiant Gardens and finds an aged man named Seth. Michael asks his new acquaintance for a story. Little does Michael know, that this story will change him forever...
1. Ch 1: Procrastination

Hello my name is Michael Jackson and before you ask, I am NOT that Michael Jackson and Im NOT Percy Jackson's brother. Im my own person and nothing like those guys! Anyway, I live in a place called Radiant Gardens and go to Western Gardens University. It's a nice school but I'm in a bit of a bind right now.

"You are sooo retarded," Kylee said.

Kylee is my best friend and we have been neighbors for seven years. She's a brunette with long hair to the middle of her back. Her eyes change colors randomly from blue to green and I never understood why. Not even she knew.

"C'mon! It's a start at least," I shouted.

"But the storyline... I swear I've heard it before, Mike."

"Well, how's your project coming then?"

"Haha! I've finished that while you went for pizza!"

I let out a sigh.

"Curse me and my procrastinating..." I said hopelessly. "If it's no good then, can you pleeaassee give me something?"

"You're sooo hopeless," Kylee replied. "If you want ideas, why don't you go around town a bit? I'm sure someone's got a story somewhere."

"But that requires work, Kylee," I whined.

"GET OUT AND DO YOUR FRIGGIN HOMEWORK," Chase shouted. "I'm tired of all your goddamn complaining."

Chase isn't such a people person.

He's my roommate for the semester.

He's got blonde hair and wears this strange necklace with a black shirt and blue jeans. The guys and I joke around saying he's in a cult of some kind. I wish I could trade him with someone but that's not allowed. I've tried to be friends with the guy but he keeps yelling! It's so irritating.

"Alright Grumpy I'll leave you alone," I said. "Goodnight Kylee, see you tomorrow."

"Byyee," she said.

"I need a storay! I need to write this storay! But where to find this storay, I don't know, hey," I sang while I skipped down the hallway.

That's right. Skipped. Like a boss! I went out on this Monday night looking for something good to write for my paper, due on Thursday. Fun times for me… I walked by the castle town took a left at Merlin's house and came upon: THE CASTLE TAVERN.

"Ohh! The Tavern," I exclaimed. "It's gotta be crawling with good subjects for mi storay!"

I walked in looked around and... There were only five people.

'Whaaat?' I thought.

I let out yet another sigh.

"So much for the good stuff," I mumbled. "Hmm... Who should I-"

*BLLLEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH!*

"HOLY SH- uhh...crap."

Not that dude... He's got his own problems. Just three tables away from the puke monster, I saw something promising. There I saw an old man sitting all alone! Well my grandfather's old and he's got stories so, he should too right? I went around the barf-covered drunk and made my way to the old man.

"Hey, this seat taken," I asked.

He grunted and kicked the chair out. Luckily for me, the chair hit me right in the shin!

"Oww!"

"Pussy," he muttered.

I'm not sure I like this guy! Like him or not though, I need to get a story from him no matter how long it takes.

"So," I said, sitting down. "I heard you got some good hear-say. Care to share?"

I really didn't hear anything but he's a tough guy so I had to talk tough as well.

"Ya wanna hear what I gotta say huh..." the old man said."Hold on to your seat, 'cause you might fall off it a couple of times."


	2. Ch 2: The Begining

I love those stories!

"Well, what ya waiting for? Get on with it," I said still in tough guy mode.

"I ain't gonna give you nothin' unless we exchange titles," he said.

"Right right... titles?"

The old-timer glared at me with a grunt.

"Your name dumbass, what's your name."

"Oh, My names Michael. Michael Jackson," I said. "And before you say-"

"Seth. Seth No-last-name."

I liked this old dude. He's the only person I met that didn't comment on my name! Seth looked to be about forty-five to fifty years old. He had long brown hair and long brown beard, both with strands of gray in them. He wore a gray wifebeater with green camo pants. The weirdest thing about him though were his eyes; they were cold but, they looked a little sad.

"My story started when I was just a teenager," Seth started.

This must've been before my parents were born.

"A great war was held. It was called The Keyblade War."

(Radiant Gardens: long ago)

A man started pacing back and forth. A serious atmosphere was all around him.

"OK everyone, the Heartless are gathering around The Keyblade Graveyard. Squad A, you investigate the area."

"Got it," Squad A responded.

"Squad B, check the gates around the town. If there are any openings, Heartless will kill all."

"Yes sir," Squad B said.

"And Squad C, you are with me to stay in the castle as reinforcements for Squad A."

"'Kay," Squad C said.

"Dissmissed," The man shouted.

A young man with spiky brown hair walked up to another young man with white hair with a smirk on his face.

"Sucks that you gotta stay here, Riku!"

"Just you wait, Sora," Riku responded. "I'll be out there saving your ass, along with all of Squad A when the Heartless attack you."

"Haha, whatever man."

"Come on Sora, Donald and Goofy are waiting," a voice said

"Yeah, comming Ven." Sora replied.

"Grrrrr..." Riku growled

"What's wrong?" The man in charge asked.

"Why Terra, why did you put me in Squad C," Riku asked. "I can fight!"

"You don't see King Mickey complaining."

"Yeah but..."

"Would you rather me put you with Aqua ,Kairi and, Xion where you might never see any action?"

"No..."

"Haha. Don't worry, buddy your time will come, I promise you," Terra said with a smile.

"Thanks," Riku said.

As Terra walked away, Riku joined up with The King, Roxas and, Axel.

"YAHOO! MISSION!" Sora shouted just as Squad A arrived at The Keyblade Graveyard.

"Sora! Quiet," Donald scolded.

"Sorry! I'm just so pumped to kick some names and take some asses," Sora replied.

"Didn't you get those mixed up?"

"Get what mixed up?"

"Oh boy.."

"OK, from the map Terra gave me, it looks like the manifestation is around here," Ven said

"C'mon fellas," Goofy said. "Let's check it out!"

Squad A walked a half mile until they reached The Fissure, with an abundance of Shadows.

"Whoa..." Sora said in awe.

"Ven did say manifestation," Goofy reasoned.

"Donald, send a report to Squad C about this," Ven ordered. "Goofy, stay back until it looks like we need help."

"Got it," Donald and Goofy said.

"Sora," Ven asked.

"Yeah," Sora said.

"You ready," Ven replied with a smile.

"Haha! Alright! Let's do this!"

The two young Keyblade Heroes jumped into The Fissure to begin their rigorous battle.


	3. Ch 3: Battle of Endless Heartless

"RRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Sora's Kingdom Key glows with light and he lunges seven times at the enemies.

"Sonic Blade," he shouts.

Ven creates a giant whirlwind taking dozens of Heartless within it.

"Tornado," he shouts.

Sora and Ven kill several Heartless before going back to back.

"They're popping up everywhere..." Ven stated.

"Let's have a contest," Sora says.

"Dude, we don't have time for games!"

"WHOEVER GETS THE HIGHER KILL COUNT WINS!"

"Fine... Sora, you're always so cheerful."

"Less bark and more bite, my friend."

They keep on destroying the black creatures for hours until Ven runs out of breath. While fending off Heartless, Sora goes to his friend, who is lying face down in the dirt.

"Are you Okay," Sora asks.

In between panting, Ven attempts to reply. "I'm… just fine..."

"Got enough energy for the Limit?"

"I think so."

Ven stood up and got into position with Sora to perform their combo attack.

"LET'S GO! DOUBLESTAR," the duo scream.

They glow brightly and shoot down their enemies with beams of light, then jump up,

And smash their Keyblades down to the ground, sending a vast number of Heartless to their grave.

"Yes Donald?" Terra says through the transmitter.

"We got trouble," Donald shouts. "Ven and Sora are doing all they can but the Heartless keep coming and coming!"

"Oh this is bad..." Terra says. "We'll send reinforcements right away."

"Yes sir! End transmission!"

Back at Radiant Garden, Terra calls in Squad C, minus The King.

"Squad C," Terra says. "We are to leave for The Keyblade Graveyard and help out Squad A. King Mickey is staying behind on my behalf. I expect you all to send every last one of those creatures there to hell, understand?"

"Okay," Squad C responds.

As they all leave Terra pulls Riku aside.

"Riku," he says, "this is your moment I promised."

"Yeah," Riku says smiling.

"I... can't... die... here..." Sora barley mumbles.

"Get up Sora," Donald says as he and Goffy rush into battle.

"All for one and one for all, right," Goofy says, reminding him of the promise the trio made long ago.

"Yeah," Sora says as he gets up.

"Ven," he says. "Get back and leave it to-"

"HEEYAA!"

Just then, a couple Heartless are extinguished.

"What's wrong Sora? Giving up already?"

Sora looked up to find Riku standing above him, Way to Dawn in hand. A smirk appeared on his face, like the one Sora gave him earlier that day.

"Nu uh," he replies.

Everyone else rushes up and the whole party gets into battle position.

"Let's give this our all," Roxas says.

Terra, Axel, Riku, Roxas, Sora, Donald, and Goofy charge the beasts fighting with theirs, and the whole realm of light's lives on the line.


	4. Ch 4: Terra's Legacy

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAA," Sora and Roxas scream as they slash down Heartless.

"Gotta admire that energy..." Axel says.

"They're the same person, what do you expect," Terra replied.

"True."

"Riku," Terra shouts. "It's our turn! You ready?"

"Yeah," Riku replies.

"TWINSHADOW!"

Their Keyblades glow with darkness and they rush at a ton of Heartless, eliminating every one caught in the attack.

"Burn out! Got it memorized," Axel says as the rest of the Heartless were scorched to ashes.

Terra then scooped up a unconscious Ven and the team walked out of The Fissure.

"Well, that was fun," Sora says enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I love me a good Heartless beating," Axel agrees.

Suddenly, some Neoshadows appear out of the ground.

"We got these guys, right Roxas," says Axel.

"Yeah," Roxas replies. "Don't worry guys, we can handle them."

"Be careful" Terra says.

"Don't worry your pretty little head." Axel says. "Just get that potato back to base."

Roxas and Axel fight the enemies while the rest of the team runs for the Gummi Ships.

"Into that crater," Riku yells.

The team rushes into the crater where they stop to rest. Terra takes Ven's Keyblade out of his hand. Then he throws it up in the air and it transforms into a hover board.

He places Ven on it and sends it back to base.

"When can me and Sora learn to do that," Riku asks.

"The Kingdom Key and Way to Dawn aren't compatible with Rider training, sorry," Terra says.

"Uh oh..." Sora says.

"Don't worry about it, man" Terra says.

"It's not that..." Sora says "I feel... Stronger."

"Isn't that a good thing," Goofy says turning to Donald.

"It means.. Roxas is no more," Sora says sadly.

No one said anything for a while but finally, Terra broke the silence.

"We gotta keep moving," he said.

The team started to leave but then, more Neoshadows appeared.

"WWWAAAAAAKKKK," Donald quacks "HEARTLESS!"

"We fight togethe,!" Terra shouted.

But Donald and Goffy had different plans.

"Barrier," Donald casts.

The shield pushes Terra, Sora, and Riku out of the crater leaving Donald and Goofy to fend off the new enemies.

"Donald! Goofy! What the hell are you doing," Sora asks rushing towards the crater.

"Everyone has a part to play in saving the worlds, Sora," Donald says.

"And this is our part," Goofy adds. "But... do one thing for me, Sora... Tell The King to keep HIM safe."

"You got it," Sora says accepting the sacrifice his friends were making.

"Let's go you guys," Sora shouts as Donald and Goofy battles the Heartless.

The team continues their journey. They walked for what seemed like miles and finally, they all collapse in the dirt.

"I'm tired..." Sora says.

"Gotta... Keep... Going... Gotta ...Make it... Home..." Terra barley mumbles.

"You know what," Riku says. "Goofy, Donald, Axel and Roxas gave their lives so we can get this far. Stopping here would make them have died in vain! We gotta push on!"

"My god he's right," Terra says while struggling to get up. "C'mon, Sora. Get off your lazy ass and keep moving."

But he didn't get up.

"Sora?" Riku says.

He was still breathing but out of it. Just then, Novashadows appeared from the rocks and Terra lunges at them.

"Put'em in a safe spot, I can't do this by myself."

Riku laid his friend behind a rock.

"Well, I told you so," Riku says before running to Terra's side.

They battled valiantly. All the Heartless were gone and eventually, Terra fell.

"Terra, are you okay?" Riku asked running to his friend.

All of a sudden a Novashadow crept up on them and slashed at Riku, catching him off guard.

'Well... I guess this is the end... I'm sorry everyone,' Riku thought.

He predicted that he wouldn't live another day.

*SWOOSH!*

Riku turns around and sees Sora attacking the Heartless vigorously, a strong light all around him.

"Get him out of here, Riku," he said.

But while he said it, the Novashadow pressed a strong attack on Sora, pushing him across the wasteland, hitting a rock really hard.

"SORA NOOO," Riku said when he saw his friend against a rock covered in blood.

The Heartless was about to do the same to Riku until, Terra blocked it with all the energy he had left and eliminated the foe.

"Riku... Come here..." Terra said.

"Terra..." Riku said sadly.

"Here... Take this..."

He hands Riku a blue gemstone with a gray outline.

"It's a good luck charm..." he said. "If anyone can use it... it's you, Riku. Find more Key-bearers, train them, and protect this sacred universe... I am happy to know that it is you I'm trusting my dream, my legacy to..."

Terra then closed his eyes for the final time.

"No... Don't you die on me! Terra," Riku shouts with tears running down his face.

"Sora... Terra... I won't let yours, and the other's deaths mean nothing," Riku said as he wiped his face, tears falling like Niagara Falls.


	5. Ch 5: Seth and Anata

Riku was very tired so he set the Gummi Ship on auto-pilot, set down Sora's and Terra's Keyblades, and lay down in the back seat.

He couldn't believe what just went down. He couldn't believe that his friends and comrades were no more. He was so shaken up by the deaths that eventually he went to sleep. He dreamed of Sora and Terra and their last moment together. His friend's faces covered in blood. Sora's last Ars Arcanum and Terra's energy blast. He woke with a start, to find himself at a shattered Radiant Gardens.

'Godamnit why me? Why do this to me,' Riku thought as he took the Keyblades inside the base.

Before he got in, he saw Aqua walk out. When she saw him, she ran to him.

"Where's Ventus," she asked.

"Terra sent him back some time ago."

Aqua raises her head and has a sad look on her face.

"What happened," Riku asked.

"The town..." Aqua explained. "Kairi and Xion... They fought while I evacuated everyone to Traverse Town but didn't make it..."

"Oh..." Riku said sadly.

"And you?"

"Terra, Sora and... everyone else..."

"I see."

Just then a girl about fourteen years old walks towards them.

"Uncle Riku," she said.

Riku looked at her with surprise.

"Anata?! Aqua, didn't you say you evacuated everyone?"

"I guess I missed one," she replied.

"Uhhhhhh..." a voice moaned.

They all looked to the right, and saw a boy with brown hair, a blue sweatshirt with jean shorts, and black shoes. He was on the ground and looked barely alive.

"Aqua what the hell," Riku shouted.

'Two? How did they get below my magic radar,' Aqua thought.

"Anata, take these," Riku handed Anata the two Keyblades. "I'll get him and we'll go to what's left of the base."

"Isn't this Dad's Keyblade," Anata asked pointing at the Kingdom Key.

"We'll talk when we get to base," Riku said.

When they got inside the castle, Riku told Anata to take the boy to the guest room and to tell them when he wakes up. Riku and Aqua went to the main room to discuss The Keblade Graveyard Mission.

"One living, six deceased and One M.I.A.," Riku said, finishing his report.

"When the Heartless attacked, Mickey went to Master Yen Sid's castle to ask if he can see how to defeat the Heartless," Aqua reported. "All he got back was a riddle. He is in Traverse Town with the survivors, trying to calm everyone down."

"What was the riddle?"

"**Of the Keyblades, light and darkness, two shall win the struggle. One shall be the savior, and the other falls to dark. The Gemstote guides the victim to their proper place."**

"Gemstone," Riku says as he holds the good luck charm Terra gave him.

"Uncle Riku! Aqua! He's awake come quickly," Anata shouts.

When they got to the guest room, the boy was sitting up on the bed, eyes looking like he was dreaming.

"You remember anything," Riku asks him.

"My name is Seth," he said. "My parents died protecting me from the Heartless. I am fourteen years old and am VERY confused right now. Who are you people?"

"Well I'm Riku, that's Aqua, and that is my niece, Anata," Riku explained

"Hey," Aqua said.

Anata only smiled at him.

Seth smiled back at Anata.

"Since Aqua couldn't find either of you, both of you must have some sort of power," Riku said.

"Seth, do you know what a Keyblade is?"


	6. Ch 6: Next Generation Keyblade Masters

(Radiant Gardens: now)

"The next day, me and Anata started the Keyblade training." Seth said.

"Wow..." I responded.

I was amazed! This was the perfect day to go out on the town. Kylee is a life saver!

"And," I asked. "And, and, and?"

"And what," he replied.

"What happened next? Did you and Anata team up? Who was the prophecy about? And WHY don't they teach this story in RG History?"

"I'm not sayin' shit now," Seth replied.

"What? Why," I asked.

"You're annoying," he replied.

"Whatever! We've only met right now, how could I be annoying?"

"Well, right now for starters."

Thanks.

"And have you ever wondered why you woke up three days ago right there on the floor?"

I always found that weird. One night out with the guys and the only thing I got to show for it was a swollen check and the bar floor under me. I shrugged and then I got an unexpected answer.

"I punched you out for callin' me an old fag. Im younger then I look, ya know."

"Ohh... sorry about that. I blame the alcohol."

"Well, you remind me of my old master, Riku so I'll tell you."

Alright!

"It goes like this..."

(Radiant Gardens: long ago. Now told in Seth's eyes.)

"Where would I get a Keyblade though," I asked.

"Well, I brought back two," Riku said. "But I was gonna use them as grave markers in The Cavern but... Terra would want this. There are two Keyblades on the table in the next room. You take one, and Anata takes one."

"Okie dokie," Anata said.

"Gotcha," I said.

The four of us walked into the next room. There were two blades, like Riku said. One was gold and silver and kinda reminded me of light. The other one was green and brown. It kinda reminded me of the ground. I didn't know her for long but, the gold one reminded me of Anata.

"I want the Kingdom Key," Anata decided.

"Not surprising. You are Sora's kid after all," Aqua said.

"Well, bud looks like you get The Ends of the Earth. It's a good blade that belonged to a good soul," Riku stated.

"Cool," I said picking it up.

I was mentally drawn to it anyways. Anata picked hers up too. They both shone with blinding light. I felt some power going through me, and I saw a faint image of two men standing side by side. One looked like me and the other had brown hair and a gauntlet on his right arm.

'That must be Terra' I thought. 'I wonder if Anata is seeing Sora.'

"OK, enough day dreaming," Riku said shaking me, which got me out of the trance.

"I think I saw Terra," I said.

"Interesting..." Riku replied.

There was a short pause, almost like the man was trying to see him too.

"C'mon we gotta start training," he said. "Aqua and Anata are already outside." Riku said

"Yessir," I responded as we walked out of the base.

(One Month Later)

"Alrighty, Aqua and I have decided to have you guys spar to test you strength," Riku said. "Treat this like a real fight, and raise your left hand if you are done."

"I ain't raisin' my hand, Anata," I told her.

She smiled back and said, "Trust me, you are."

"Begin," Riku shouted, sparks of light and darkness coming out of his Keyblade.

I lunged out to hit Anata, but she sneaked up from behind and tried an uppercut. I got knocked flat on my face.

"60 Munny on my student," Aqua whispered to my master.

He just growled.

'C'mon,' I thought. 'Win, use what Riku taught you!'

"HEEEEYYYAAA!"

I jumped in the air, slashing repeatedly but missing every time. Anata dove under me and got me with a smack down. I went down again.

'I can't let her beat me,' I told myself.

I got up and ran with all I got at her. She side-stepped me and attempted to get me again but this time, I Dodge Rolled behind her.

"Get this," I shouted as I back stabbed her, literally.

She went flying six feet in the air and I made my biggest mistake ever. I jumped up to try to smack down her, but at the last second, she twirled above me, and gave me ANOTHER smack down. I hit my face hard on the dirt and I shamefully put my left hand up in defeat.

"Good job, Anata," Aqua cheered.

She looked at Riku with a smirk, holding out her right hand; "where's my Munny?"

Riku took 60 Munny out of his pocket and gave it to Aqua.

"That's my pupil! You get a break tomorrow!"

"WHHOOO! Thanks Aqua," Anata replies.

I laid on the ground, dumbfounded.

'How could she beat me? We started the same time too...'

On the ground, I saw Riku's shadow come towards me.

"I'm sorry Riku, I just wasn't-"

"Don't worry about it," he said smiling.

"Take it, as far as I'm concerned, you've earned it," he said giving me some Sea-Salt ice cream.

I smiled back at him. He didn't seem mad at all, he seemed proud of me. I couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go kid," he told me.

"Sooooo.. Does this mean I get tomorrow off also," I asked hopefully.

Riku knocked me on the head with his fist in response.

"HEEEEEEEELL NOOOO! YOU HAVE SOOOO MUCH FRAKING WORK TO DO IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY!"

"Ow, why'd you have to hit me" I shouted back.

"Why'd you have to ask a stupid question like that?"

This went on for a while until we got to the castle.


	7. Ch 7: Yen Sid's Next Step

"SETH, WAKE UP! WE START TRAINING NOW SO GET YOUR LAZY BUTT DOWN HERE," Riku shouted up the stairs.

"Meeehhhh..." I groaned.

I got out of my room and groggily went down the stairs. Breakfast was ready, which was awesome. I slumped down on a chair and looked at my Master.

"Hey, Riku," I asked. "If I won, would I have a day off?"

"No. I don't do that," he replied. "Besides, the more training you get, the stronger you will become and the stronger you become the more likely it is for you to beat Anata, right?"

"I guess so... Where is Anata," I asked.

"She and Aqua went to The Mysterious Tower to talk with Master Yen Sid."

"That's what we should've done!"

"Nuh uh you got training to do. Now get outside and we can start."

(Twilight Town)

"I don't see a castle, Aqua," Anata shouted.

"We aren't there yet, Knucklehead," Aqua replied. "Now help me find a purple train."

She looked around the station, but Anata only found orange trains, some blue, but most orange. Finally after five minutes, Anata gave up.

"I don't think there's-"

Just then a purple train appeared. It had peculiar star and moon patterns and, a mystical pointed hat that had a similar pattern.

"Okay never mind there it is," she said.

"Alright, let's go," Aqua commanded.

The inside of the train was a yellowish color and had two benches. There was a table in-between them, making it so that both benches could use them. Aqua and Anata sat on one of the benches.

"How long is this ride," Anata asked.

"I'm not sure," Aqua replied. "But, I'd say get ready for a few hours."

Anata groaned.

'Why did I have to go,' she thought.

After they got off the train, Aqua and Anata were standing in front of the castle. It was enormous with similar color and pattern as the train that took them there.

'It makes sense that the train would take us somewhere like this,' Anata thought.

"Let's go in, Anata," Aqua said.

"Got it," Anata replied.

(Mysterious Tower)

"Ahhhhh..." Anata groaned.

"What is it," Aqua asked.

"Soo many stairs..."

"Stop your complaining; at the most it should be there in two flights."

"Hahaha!"

"What's so funny?"

"It's funny because YOU SAID THAT FIVE FLIGHTS AGO!"

"Whatever," Aqua said.

When they got to the top, they saw an old man with a giant blue robe and gray beard. He also had a pointy hat with the same pattern as on the train.

"Ah! Master Aqua! Mickey told me you would come when the time is right."

"It is good to see you again, Master Yen Sid."

'THIS is Master Yen Sid,' Anata wondered. 'He's way too old to be a Keyblade Master.'

"This is Anata, my student. Anata, this is Master Yen Sid. He's the wisest of Keybalde Masters."

"I was, but I am no longer teaching I'm afraid." Master Yen Sid corrected.

Anata sensed that Master Yen Sid was just emanating with knowledge and wisdom.

"What have you come here for," Master Yen Sid asked.

"Riku and I are wondering what must be done now. He would be here, but he's training with his student, Seth."

"I see" Master Yen Sid said. "Then let's look in the crystal ball. Anata, would you be so kind as to place your hand on it?"

As he said, Anata placed her hand on the crystal ball. The orb lit up and started to shake the room. In the orb, they saw a man in a black jacket with a red and black, sinister looking Keyblade. His face looked familiar, but neither Anata nor Aqua knew why. The man was controlling darkness, destroying everything in his path. They saw their home destroyed and dead bodies all around. Then they saw Anata with her Kingdom Key fighting the man on an island. The fight ended in her defeat with the man about to take her heart but, the vision ended. The orb went dark and lifeless again. "What happened, Master Yen Sid?" Anata asked.

"Anata my dear…" Master Yen Sid said.

"I believe we were experiencing your death."

"What?" Anata said. "But, I'm right here!"

"This will be your future," Master Yen Sid replied. "Master Aqua? Did you see Riku's apprentice?"

"I did not," she said.

"I see... Well then, I think it's time Anata and Seth learn the secrets of the Keyblade. That must be what Riku is working on with him."

"Well actually-" Anata started.

Before she could finish, she was cut off by Aqua.

"Yes Master Yen Sid we will. Come, Anata."

"Okay," she replied.

"What secrets was Master Yen Sid talking about, Aqua," Anata asked when they were on the train again.

"The secrets of the light laser which will unlock yours and Seth's hidden abilities."


	8. Ch 8: The Final Lessons

(Radiant Gardens: Hollow Bastion)

Seth was panting in fatigue. He was training with Riku since morning and it was now the middle of the afternoon.

"Riku... can we stop yet?" I asked as I hit the ground.

In the distance, we saw two vehicles come close to the castle; one was a Gummi Ship and the other was a grayish-blue vessel with a woman clad in armor riding it.

"Well, I guess since Anata and Aqua just got back," Riku replied. "Let's see what they found out."

We walked back in the castle and made our way to the front door when we found Aqua come in with Anata close behind.

"Seth you look tired, take a rest," Aqua said.

"Oh thank God..." I said half conscious.

Five steps in and I already fell to the floor and stayed there for a good two minutes before Riku told Anata to help me up the stairs.

"You are SUCH a wimp, Seth," she said to me while we went up.

"You... don't... know... what you're... talking about... he... was gonna run me... into the..."

That is about how far I got into my sentence before I completely blacked out.

I woke up in my bed with my three friends standing above me, just like when we all first met.

"You slept through the whole day, we almost thought you were in a coma," Aqua said.

"The whole day," I asked.

This was not good, Riku was gonna kill me for this!

"All that training to catch him up to Anata must've done this," Riku said. "Come downstairs. Aqua and I have something we need to discuss with the both of you."

They both went leaving me and Anata by ourselves.

"I wonder what this is about," I said.

"We would have known earlier, had you not collapsed," she replied with sass.

"Meeehhh!"

"Now that you two are here, we are going to teach you the secrets of the Keyblade," Riku started. "Everything you thought you knew about the Keyblade didn't even scratch the surface compared to this."

"Wow... secrets of the Keybalde," I asked.

"Watch," Aqua commanded as she pointed her Stormfall at a tree stump.

A bright light surrounded the tip and it shot out, blasting the stump into wood splinters.

"That is awesome," Anata said.

I was too stunned to say anything. If this is barley the surface, I wonder what else there is.

"It's not as hard as it looks," Aqua said. "You just gotta think of light, point, and shoot."

Both me and Anata got this down within seconds.

"Well, that was fast," Riku commented. "Now for Attack and Magic Commands. I'll start with Anata, and Aqua with Seth."

"Well this is different," I said as Aqua and I stepped outside where she trained Anata.

"Okay, I'm going to teach you the four basic spells; Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and Cure," Aqua started.

She reached a hand into her pocket and took out four jewels of different colors. She grabbed my open hand and placed them inside it.

"Take these jewels and put them into your pocket. Choose one from random and that's the one we start with."

I did as she instructed, and pulled out a yellow gem.

"Yellow," I said.

"That's Thunder," Aqua said. "Now for Thunder, you just wave your Keyblade into the air and call out Thunder, like this."

She did as she instructed, then shouted 'Thunder' with great force. Lightning bolts fell from the skies and struck down right beside me. I jumped from surprise, and Aqua laughed at me.

"Thanks," I said.

I summoned my Earthshaker, and did what Aqua taught me. With my Keyblade raised, I was ready to go.

"Okay, here we go! THUNDER!"

The bolts came down just as Aqua did, but I left a giant hole in the ground.

"Whoopsie..." I said.

"Alright then... On to the next one," She said.

I pulled out a green gem.

"Ah, the opposite of pure destruction; Cure," Aqua said. "For that you do the same for Thunder except this time, think of healing and call out Cure, or Heal, like so."

"HEAL!"

All of a sudden a green aura surrounded me, and I was rejuvenated. Right above my head I saw a four-leaf clover.

"Feels good, doesn't it," Aqua said. "Now you."

"Cure," I called out.

Instead of Aqua feeling all nice and stuff, lightning fell again, hitting her.

"SETH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR? THIS IS HEALING NOT DESTROYING!"

Good thing I got it right the second time.

"Now... Fire and Blizzard are mainly the same. You point your Keybalde at the target, NOT me, the target, and think hot and cold for the corresponding spells."

"FIRE! BLIZZARD!"

Ice and flames hit another tree stump. I got those down pretty well.

"Congratulations Sweetie, you got magic," Aqua said, ruffling my hair.

I chuckled. Aqua reminded me of my mother.

"Now you go back with Riku to learn about Attacks."

Oh boy...

Anata and I passed each other switching our teachers again. She said Attack training wasn't too hard, and I felt good about that.

"Seth, now you learn about Attack Commands," Riku said. "They are the same concept as the Lightlaser, except minor differences, but I'm sure you can handle them."

"Cool, what are they," I asked.

"I'll teach you three Attacks; Strike Raid, Barrier Surge, and Blitz," he replied. "Now, Strike Raid is simply throwing your Keyblade at the enemy, and calling it back in one motion. Try like so."

Riku threw his Keybalde and just as soon as it went out, it came back. So I tried it and it didn't look as smooth as my Master's but it worked.

"That was good for a first-timer, but you can get better with the right amount of practice and effort," he said. "Now for Barrier Surge. You just summon light power like Lightlaser but focus it around you and not on your Keyblade. Observe."

Riku flew at a tree with a barrier all around him, hitting it repeatedly.

"Okay then, I got this," I said with confidence.

At first, I couldn't summon the barrier. The second time however, I summoned it but I forgot to lunge. That got me a knock on the head. The next time, I got it all in one motion.

"Good, very good. Better than Anata," Riku said.

Success!

"And finally, we have Blitz," Riku instructed. "It looks easier than it really is. Engulf your blade with power and crash down on the enemy with a rhythm and if you don't, you will be stunned and in combat that is not the way to go."

It took me a while to get a hold of that one.

Every time I was stunned, Riku stabbed me with his Keyblade. Unfortunately, I got stunned several times. When I finally got it, he patted me on the back.

"Good job, kid," he said.

"Now that we're done, let's go back in. I'm sure the other two are in already."

We met in a room of the castle that I've never been to before, not that I didn't think there was any. It had big walls, three thrones, and was decorated in a blue and gold design.

"This room is designed to look like the room me and my friends took our Mark of Mastery Exam in the Land of Departure, my old home," Aqua said as we walked through the doors.

"Well, we have nothing else to teach you," Riku said. "We would have an exam, but in our situation it would be okay not to have one, right Aqua?"

"Yes," She said.

"Anata, Seth. We are proud to announce that you are officially Keyblade Mas-"

Before she could finish, hundreds of black creatures came up from the shadows. "Heartless?" Riku shouted. "What are they doing here?"

"Heartless," I asked

"They are creatures of darkness that steal people's hearts," Anata explained. "The Keyblade is the only weapon that can destroy them yet, it is a tracker for them."

"Oh, that's just wonderful," I said sarcastically.

"Anata! Seth! Go to Ansem's laboratory," Riku commanded. "It's the only place they can't get to!"

"But, Riku, we can fight," I said.

A glint of what looked like déjà vu appeared in Riku's eyes but then focused back onto the enemies.

"Just go you two,"Aqua said while she bashed some Heartless.

"C'mon, Seth," Anata said. "They're our Masters; they know what they're doing."

"Fine. Good luck you guys," I said.

We ran by so many Heartless, rushing through hallways until, we reached a room with a locked door. Anata shot a Lightlaser at the lock and we went in, closing the door on the Heartless.

"We made it," I said.

We sat side by side waiting and wondering how long they were gonna take fighting those creatures for what felt like hours, until I noticed Anata was about to cry.

"Don't worry, Anata," I said putting my arm around her. "Like you said, they know what they are doing. They are going to be fine."

"Maybe," she said. "But maybe not. My parents died from those things, and my father was a valiant warrior, possibly the best next to Terra, the one who taught Riku. If he died, then... I'm not sure they are gonna make it..."

She said that last part while sobbing.

"Hey there," I said. "Why don't we think of something else? Tell me about your parents. They are Sora and Kairi, right? I heard from a guy named Leon that Sora was a great hero that saved this place and the people many different times."

The girl started to wipe tears from her eyes as she nodded.

"Well it started at a place where Dad, Mom and, Riku grew up; The Destiny Islands..."

Anata continued to tell me stories of long ago, in Sora's and Riku's hero days.


	9. Ch 9: Of Legacies and Enemies

"So that's how it started huh," I said.

Anata's retelling of events in the past was just like I'd imagine, but better. I wish I could've seen it all!

"Yep," she said. "It must be embarrassing for Dad to be defeated like that," She said chuckling.

We sat there some more, waiting for it to be safe to come out until we heard a giant crash outside the door.

"What's that," Anata asked, grabbing my hand.

"I- I don't k-know," I said.

My face was redder then a tomato.

*CRASHH!*

We got up at this point and I open the door just enough to see the hallway. There we saw broken walls and a wounded Aqua lying on the ground.

"Aqua," Anata shouted.

"Shush, Anata," I said. "You're gonna make the Heartless come!"

"Listen you two..." Aqua said as we walked over.

"You are now Keyblade Masters on a mission: find more strong hearts and create an army of Keyblade Heroes so that you can save our worlds."

"Like a Heartless Resistance," I suggested.

"Exactly," Aqua said. "Im not sure where Riku is, but I'm sure he needs help."

"Okay then... I'll go. He's my master," I said. "Anata, tend to Aqua's wounds."

"Gotcha," Anata agreed.

I turned around and was ready to take off.

"Seth," Anata asked.

"Yeah, what's up," I asked.

"Don't die out there. Promise me."

I nodded and rushed down the hall to find Riku.

While I was running, I ran into hoards of the black creatures.

"Barrier Surge," I shouted as I rammed them into the walls.

This was pretty fun. Suddenly I was surrounded by dozens of Heartless.

"Thunder," I shouted. Lightning bolts would smite the enemies.

"He's not in the castle," I decided.

I went outside, went through the castle town and found Riku (in front of where WGU is located today) barely surviving the attack. I rushed in with my Sonic Blade, killing the surrounding Heartless.

"Seth, what are you doing here," Riku asked. "Where's Anata?"

"Aqua's hurt and Anata is helping her, and I'm here to help you," I explained. "I'm a master now remember?"

"Okay let's go, Master Seth," Riku responded with a smile.

"HEYYA!"

"Twin Raid," we shouted throwing our Keyblades into the surrounding Heartless.

"Dark Haze," Riku shouts.

He was cloaked in darkness and lunged at the rest of them.

"What was that and why didn't you teach me," I asked.

"There are some things people can and can't handle," he said. "Once you master your darkness alongside your light, you might be able to learn it."

We walked on a path that would take us to the gate leading outside city limits when suddenly, Riku collapsed on the ground before me.

"Riku," I said leaning down next to him. "Are you Okay?"

Just then, a man with a black cloak came out of a Dark Corridor.

"Who are you," I said, readying my Keyblade.

"Ends of the Earth," he asked. "You're not Terra, are you?"

"What do you care," Riku joined in. "Answer his question! Who are you?"

"What I am, Way to Dawn, is a messenger from G.L.A.S.S, who sees everything as well as decides."

"Riku, what's G.L.A.S.S," I asked.

"I don't know, kid," he said. "But we are definitely gonna kick this guy's glASS!"

We readied our Keyblades and Glass Man took out a peculiar spear.

"I was hoping for the easy way, but that must've not been what G.L.A.S.S wanted," Glass Man said.

We fought all we could but his fighting skills were amazing. Every one of our hits didn't land! Even my Thunder had a hard time hitting him.

"G.L.A.S.S must want you both dead," Glass Man said.

He raised his spear, ready to charge, but just then, three Keyblades rushed at the cloaked man, knocking him into next week. I looked over expecting three key-wielders, preferably Anata and Aqua, but saw only a black haired kid that looked slightly older than me.

"Ah! Ashe! So glad you could help," my master shouted.

"Riku, when'd you meet this guy?"

"Oh about, thirty-one minutes ago," Ashe said looking at his watch-less wrist.

Smart ass.

By this time, Glass Man was charging again.

"I'll explain later, but right now we have bigger problems," Riku said.

I was okay with that answer.

"TRIAD," Ashe shouted.

"SONIC BLADE," I shouted.

"DARK HAZE," Riku said.

For a while, Keyblades, Spears, darkness and light (and talk about G.L.A.S.S) were rushing around the whole battlefield.

"TRITHUNDAGA," the three of us summoned lightning and hit the enemy.

"What does G.L.A.S.S say about that, bitch," Ashe tormented.

"You know what, Hands of Time," Glass Man said. "You annoy me."

Just as our friend was about to throw another Judgment Triad, a dark vacuum sucked him in.

"JUDGEMENT TRI-AAAHHHH," he shouted.

"Ashe," Riku and I shouted.

"This charade has gone on long enough," Glass Man said. "I am now to tell you the other half of Yen Sid's prophecy."

"Yen-what," I asked.

"Okay, go on, tell us what you want." Riku gave in.

"As you know, Yen Sid's great prophecy says:

**Of the Keyblades, light and darkness, two shall win the struggle. One shall be the savior, and the other falls to dark. The Gemstone guides the victim to their proper place."**

"He didn't see the whole picture, like G.L.A.S.S does," he continued. "The other half is:

**The victim wakes and so will destruction. Keyblades of light and darkness will fight, bringing the end of all worlds. The successor can set things right through THE BOOK."**

"That's it," Riku asked. "That's what you wanted to tell us?! What about getting rid of the Heartless?"

"G.L.A.S.S has a plan for all," he replied. "But for it all to take place, Way to Dawn, you have to give your life."

"Never," I shouted.

Suddenly, I was overcome with rage, glowing with a black aura. I slashed at our enemy with blinding speed, getting him away from Riku. But that didn't stop him, because all my energy was drained after a while.

"Whaa-" I mumbled.

"I'm doing you a favor, you know," a voice said behind me.

I turned around and saw my master, covered in blood on the ground with Glass Man standing above him, his spear ready to kill.

"NO!"

I ran at him but when I got there it was too late. A Corridor of Darkness appeared behind Glass Man and with a chuckle, he jumped backwards into it.

"Seth.. Come here..." Riku said.

"Riku..." I said sadly. "I should've run faster..."

"Here... Take this…"

He hands me a blue gemstone with a gray outline.

"It's a good luck charm.. If anyone can use it... it's you, Seth. Find more Key-bearers, train them, and protect this sacred universe..."

Riku took a pause to spit up some blood. It was a horrible scene to watch.

"I am happy to know that it is you I'm trusting my dream, my legacy to.." Riku said, closing his eyes for the final time.

"No... Don't you die on me," I shouted, tears running down my face. "MASTER!"

"Riku... I will find more like us, and eliminate G.L.A.S.S, I promise," I said as I wiped my face, tears falling like Niagara Falls.


	10. Ch 10: Inter-World Travel

After mourning for a little while, I picked up my Master's Keyblade, slug it on my back, and started towards the castle. I didn't see any Heartless on the way there. I thought that was kinda strange but I didn't care.

Master Riku... Why did he have to die? When I got to the castle I went through the door and found Anata, walking towards me.

"Anata, where's-"

Seeing the look on her face said I didn't need to say anything else.

"A man with a black cloak bested me... Said that G.L.A.S.S. decided her fate..." she started to cry after that.

"Come here," I said with open arms.

She ran at me, showering me with sad tears. There were so many, that it seemed like all the fluid in her body just poured out right here.

"He had no right to-"

Anata paused for a second. I guessed she must've seen The Way to Dawn on my back.

"Uncle Riku... he came for him too?!"

I felt her shaking in my arms.

"Calm down Anata, it's gonna be okay," I said in a calming voice.

Almost instantly, she stopped shaking.

"Thanks Seth," she said. "With the other two gone, I don't know what I'd do if you-"

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise. Don't worry about it."

She let go of me and we just stood there for a while.

"Well, what do we do now," I asked.

"Hmm... I got it! Follow me," Anata replied.

I followed my friend through the castle, and we ended up in the backyard.

"So, why are we out here," I asked.

"We gotta put their Keys into the ground to honor our masters."

"Uhm... Is that it," I asked. "This can't seriously be your whole plan."

"Nope. By the way, have you been to another world before?"

(Twilight Town)

"Woah," I said in awe.

"Amazing isn't it?" Anata said.

"There are more worlds out there besides Radiant Gardens and Twilight Town, and we are gonna see another one pretty soon," she said, pointing to a patterned, purple train with a hat.

"Pointy hat," I said. "Where are we going?"

"To the castle of the greatest Keyblade Master in the universe."

"Who's that?"

"A man named Yen Sid," Anata said as we boarded the train.

Hours passed and we were still on the train. I got bored.

"Are we there yet," I asked.

"No," Anata replied.

"How 'bout now?"

"No..."

"... now?"

"No Seth, shut it!"

"... now?"

"SETH I WILL END YOU RIGHT NOW IF YOU SAY THAT ONE MORE FRIGGIN TIME!"

"... how 'bout now?"

*SLAM!*

Anata summoned her Kingdom Key and smashed my head with the blunt end of the weapon.

That was the day I learned not to mess with Anata.

(Mysterious Tower)

When the train stopped, and my pain ceased, we got out to see a giant castle with similar patterns and color to the magic train.

"Makes sense," I commented.

"The color and pattern? I said the same thing," Anata said. "Oh, and when we get inside, DO NOT ask 'are we there yet?' EVER!"

When we got in, I figured out why.

"We gotta CLIMB all the way up THERE? I can't do that carry me," I said with my arms outstretched.

She just stared at me, and then started up the stairs. The whole time up the only thing I thought about is how horrible it's gonna be going back down.

When we got to the top, we saw a man in a thrown. The man appeared tall with an even taller white beard. He had a pointy hat like the train and had a blue robe.

"Another pointy hat," I said.

"Seth, this is Master Yen Sid," Anata said. "Master Yen Sid, this is Seth, my uncle's student."

"Ah, Seth," the old man greeted, "I've heard so much about you."

"Awesome," I said.

"Master, I think you saw what happened just recently at Radiant Gardens," Anata said.

"Yes. It was a very sad event. I am sorry for your loss."

"Wait, how'd he-"

The Master cut me off before I could finish.

"See it? My crystal ball shows me events taking place in all worlds. I report what I find to the Keybalde Masters; now you two."

"We came to ask what we must do next," Anata said.

"Do what Riku and Aqua asked of you," he suggested. " Find more strong hearts and train them to fight and save the worlds from the darkness."

"Where do we start," I asked.

"Hmm... Maybe Twilight Town? Or possibly Traverse Town. King Mickey is currently there if I remember correctly," Master Yen Sid replied.

"Okay, thank you Master Yen Sid. We'll go to Traverse Town," Anata said, turning to the door.

"Master Yen Sid?" I asked.

"Yes, my boy?"

"Do you know anything about the organization called G.L.A.S.S?"

"I have heard of such people, yes," he answered. "They somehow knew the hidden part of my prophecy. Mickey is investigating where they were last in Traverse Town."

"More the reason to go there," Anata said. "Come on, Seth."

"Wait.. how do we go, exactly," I asked. "The magic train left."

"You two can use the train to travel the worlds if you would like," Yen Sid offered.

"Yeah! That would be great," I said.

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid," Anata added.

"Before your journey starts, why don't you rest here," Master Yen Sid suggested. "I see your clothes are torn. I have friends that can fix that."

"Tomorrow, right Anata," I asked, hopefully.

"Okay sounds good," She said smiling.

I was relieved when she said that. I was NOT ready to get back on those stairs!


	11. Ch 11: The Fairy Clothing Dept

I woke up the next day in a small purple room with star and moon patterns. How original.

I sat up, yawned for a loooong time, then got dressed and left the room. I went through a giant brown door, and saw Master Yen Sid and Anata waiting for me.

"Now that Seth is here, we can work on your wardrobe," Master Yen Sid said.

"Wait, what," I asked.

"Our clothes are torn from the Heartless, remember," Anata asked.

I was probably too busy to notice that. I must have been too busy to notice that Anata had a Destiny Islands High School uniform on too. I looked down and my jeans were now shorts and half of my sweatshirt was missing.

That's probably why it felt so damn chilly... I had parts of my clothes missing!

"Now I get what ya mean," I said.

"I swear, you would be lost in the worlds without me," Anata said.

"Yeah, maybe," I replied smiling. "So, how are we gonna do this, Master Yen Sid?"

"Both of you step into the changing room."

"Wait, BOTH of us," Anata asked with eyes wide open.

The old wizard chuckled. "Don't worry my dear, it will be okay."

He opened the door and shouted; "Flaura! Faunna! Meriweater! You have guests who need a new wardrobe!"

We stepped in the room and saw three fairies.

"Hello! I'm Flaura, this is Faunna, and this is Meriweather." The red one said pointing to the blue and green ones, respectively.

"I'm Anata, and this is Seth," Anata said. "Wouldn't it be awkward to have a boy and a girl in the SAME dressing room?"

"No, no my dear," Meriweather replied. "We use magic to change you!"

"Uhm.. okay," Anata said with a confused look on her face.

"Now, who wants to go first," Flaura asked.

"She does," I said, pushing Anata forward.

"Hold still, deary," Faunna told her.

Anata looked back at me as if to say 'I am going to kill you.' I smiled back nervously. She hit me before; she just might to it again! The fairies shot light from their wands to change Anata's clothing. The problem was the only thing that was changing was the color of the tattered clothes.

"Red!"

"Blue!"

"Green!"

"Red!"

"Blue!"

"Green!"

"Red!"

"Blue!"

"Gree-"

"Pick a color, damn it," Anata shouted.

The fairies looked at eachother for a moment, then prepared to shoot more light at my friend.

"One, two, three," The fairies shouted.

A bright light appeared, surrounding Anata. When it disappeared, I looked at what they have done.

She. Looked. Beautiful!

Anata went from a school uniform, to a purple shirt that stopped a little above her waist with long sleeves. She also had a white belt with a black buckle and black pants with white shoes. Her light brown hair was straight and shiny.

"Whoaa…" I said in awe. "My turn, my turn!"

I said running where Anata was standing, pushing her over. That might not have been the best idea because she glared at me again. I might be barley living after this but the new clothes will be worth it!

"Lay it on me," I said.

"One, two, three," The fairies shouted.

The bright light came back and when it disappeared, I looked down and was amazed. Mine stayed almost the same, except my new sweatshirt was a darker blue and I felt powerful with it on. I had on black shoes and my jeans were repaired with the top part black with more pockets.

I love pockets!

I looked over at Anata and she had her mouth open like when I saw her. She was also blushing! I chuckled at her reaction.

"What you blushing about, Anata," I asked.

"Uhm... nothing..." she said.

I had a feeling that I was let off the hook for my extreme sexiness!

We thanked Master Yen Sid and the fairies as we made our way to the magic train.

"I think we should name our train," I said.

Anata just looked at me like I was crazy.

"Oh, come on! It's a good idea," I reasoned.

"Fine," she said. "What were you thinking?"

"Either Disney or Mystery."

"Mystery is good."

"Yay Mystery!" I liked that name better anyway.

"Okay, on to Traverse Town," Anata shouted.

"GO MYSTERY GO!"

((Anata))

The train ride is estimated to be about an hour.

I looked over at Seth when we were halfway there and he was sleeping! Why is he sleeping? How can he be that clueless and carefree? Well, at least when we get there, I'll get my revenge for pushing and volunteering me today. I have to admit though... Seth doesn't look that bad with his new outfit, and sleeping right now, he looks kinda cute...

Wait! Seth? Cute? What am I thinking?


	12. Ch 12: The King, The Kiss, and Kupo!

((Traverse Town: Seth))

"Oowwwww!"

Anata pushed me off Mystery! Must've been revenge from yesterday... and I was having such a good nap too!

Anata jumped out of Mystery and it disappeared.

"How are we supposed to get out now," I asked her.

"This charm can summon the train," she said pointing to a purple crystal with a yellow star inside. "I'll hold on to it for now."

"Fine..." I said disappointed. "So this is Traverse Town huh? Where's King Mickey?"

"First question is _who_ is King Mickey?"

I shrugged in reply and we started walking towards a building that looked like a shop.

"Let's split up," Anata suggested. "The map says there are three districts in this town. You check the first, which is this one, and I'll go to the second one. We'll meet in this spot."

"Gotcha," I replied.

Anata seems to know what to do on her own. I don't even have a clue. It makes me wonder why Riku and Aqua made me a master...

'Well, might as well start looking around,' I thought as Anata went around the corner.

I started my search in the building Anata and I met in front of.

I went inside and the place was overrun by a whole bunch of white creatures with big red noses and red tuffs on their heads. I went to touch it, I don't even know why, and it snapped at me.

"Don't touch that, Kupo! Why does everyone want to touch my tuff, Kupo," the creature shouted.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I said.

"Who are you and who is Kupo," I asked it.

"I'm a Moogle, Kupo," the Moogle said. "As for Kupo, I haven't any idea what you mean, Kupo."

"Nevermind..." I said. "Have you heard of a guy named King Mickey?"

"King Mickey," all the Moogles repeated at once.

"He's not here, Kupos," The Moogle I was talking to told them. "I'm sorry, Kupo. When you say his name, they all want to give him hugs and give him presents and other things like that, Kupo."

"It's okay," I replied. "Now have you seen him anywhere?"

"He is with all the refugees he took here, Kupo. They should be upstairs and in the Item Shop next door, Kupo."

"Okay thanks," I said.

"Anytime, Kupo."

I walked out the door to find the Item Shop when I heard a noise.

*CRRRAAAASHHHHH!*

"What was that?" I wondered.

"I think it came from the Second District... Anata!"

As fast as I could I ran to the Second District doors.

((Anata))

"This plan should get my mind off of Seth..." I said as I went through the doors to the Second District.

It was a small place, not much more then hotels and stores. There was a giant factory at the far side so I went to check it out first.

"This looks like a place a king would hide refugees," I decided.

I walked up the stairs leading to the factory but suddenly, a bunch of Novashadows came out of nowhere and started attacking me!

"Heartless," I shouted. "Barrier Surge!"

A barrier made of light formed a sphere around me and I rammed through the black creatures.

I took some out but they kept coming.

"Fire! Blizzard! Thunder!"

It took a while, but I eventually bested the dark beasts.

I started panting from fatigue, but I couldn't take a rest since I had a job to do.

When I got to the factory, I opened a door and found a bunch of switches. I jumped up onto the highest point and assessed the situation. All the switches seemed to be connected.

"I'll just leave the king to Seth," I decided. "He can handle it."

The first switch was far away so I used my Strike Raid to get to it. The next one was right next to it but my Strike Raid wouldn't work. There was a lightning symbol right next to it so I called upon Thunder.

"This is fun," I said.

The next three had green flames around them so I used Blizzard to send them away, and Thunder activated them. I didn't see the last one anywhere. I started by the clock but it was fine. I climbed every inch of the place but got doughnut! I decide to take a break by where I first started. I sat down and looked around until I saw something right by my hand.

"Wow, the switch was here the whole time," I said laughing.

I flipped the switch when suddenly; the factory was engulfed in darkness! I rushed out of there as fast as I could! When I got outside, I noticed five purple pieces of metal by the well in front of the factory. I walked toward them and they came to life!

"Must be a Heartless…" I thought as I readied my Keybalde.

I ran to attack but none of my hits would land. Not even my magic stood a chance against the creature.

"What the hell is this thing," I asked rhetorically.

"It's just like any Heartless, Kingdom Key," A voice said behind me.

I looked back, and saw a man in yellow clothing and jet black hair.

"Who are you," I asked him.

"My name is Sabastian," Sabastian replied. "The second member 'S' in G.L.A.S.S. Those Thunder switches? Courtesy of me. I thought Ends of the Earth would've fallen for it though."

"Why you little..." I muttered as I went after him, completely forgetting about the gigantic Heartless behind me.

"I'm not fighting you here, that is." Sabastian said as he went through a dark portal.

Without warning, the Heartless slammed its claw on top of me, making a huge crashing sound. That is when I thought it was all over.

((Seth))

"Anata," I shouted breaking through the door.

I looked around until I saw Anata, on the ground, not moving. My heart skipped a beat at this sight.

"ANATA!"

When I got to my friend, she was breathing lightly.

"Anata... Come on! Don't die on me," I shouted, shaking her, slapping her, doing everything I thought of to wake her.

Just then, a metal claw came out of nowhere. I used my body to shield Anata, closing my eyes.

After a couple seconds, I noticed I was still alive. I open my eyes to see a little mouse in red clothing was fighting a metal Heartless with a Keyblade similar to Anata's.

"What," I asked in disbelief.

"Get her out of here," The mouse shouted at me.

"Yeah," I agreed while picking up Anata and running back to the First District.

I got to the Moogle-infested building and set her down. I went up to the Moogle I was talking with earlier.

"Please, take care of her until I get back," I told him.

"Yes sir, Kupo!"

"Thank you," I said. "By the way, do you have a name?"

"I don't come to think of it, Kupo... I just called myself Moogle like the rest of us do, Kupo."

"I got one for ya! What about Kupo," I suggested.

"Yes! That's perfect, Kupo," Kupo said. "My name is now Kupo! Thanks a lot, Kupo. For a name, I shall take care of your friend, Kupo."

"Thanks, Kupo," I said as I went back to the Second District.

I came back to see that the mouse was having a tough time with the Heartless.

"Thunder," I shouted, destroying the last bit of HP the Heartless had.

God, I love that spell. I ran over to the mouse and introduced myself.

"I'm Seth, who might you be?"

"My name is Mickey," the mouse said in reply. "I am a king from a far off world."

"Me and my friend have been looking for you," I said.

"Looking for me," King Mickey asked, confused.

"I'll explain when we get to Anata, come on," I told him as we ran to the entrance.

We walked in just as Anata woke up. At the sight of the King, the Moogles tried to give out their hugs like they always did. Kupo effectively got the Moogles away from The King, however.

"Hey, I found him," I said smiling.

"You saved me," she said.

"Hahaha well the thing is, King Micky actually sa-" I was cut off because Anata kissed me.

It wasn't a 'thanks for saving me' kiss on the check or anything. It was a full on lip on lip kiss! I didn't know what to say so we sat there awkwardly for two minutes.

"IS SOMEONE GONNA TELL ME WHY THEY ARE LOOKING FOR ME," The King shouted, impatiently.

"Uhm... right," I muttered.

"Riku and Aqua said you were at Traverse Town with the people of Radiant Gardens so we came here to report Riku and Aqua were K.I.A..."

"Oh... I see..." King Mickey said. "Is anyone else around?"

"Riku's report stated that Ventus was M.I.A but that is all," Anata joined in.

"So you two are the students I heard about," The King started. "Master Yen Sid told me about you. Said you were the only ones left. I didn't wanna believe it which is why I asked but..."

King Mickey stopped, a single tear running down his face.

"There is no time for sadness," he said "I'll be here, tending to the refugees. If you need anything at all, you just say the word."

"Thank you Your Majesty," Anata and I said.

"Aw, none of that 'Your Majesty' stuff now," The King said. "We are friends, so call me Mickey."

"Okay then Mickey," I said with a smile.

We shook hands, and then Anata and I set off to our next destination, wherever Mystery will take us.


	13. Ch 13: Broken GLASS of Agrabah

"Anata, where we going," I asked.

"Not sure," she said back.

She hasn't really talked since she kissed me. Why is that?

"You seem less talkative, something wrong," I asked.

"It's just... what happened back there..."

"Oh that? Don't worry about it. I'm sure it was some sort of impulse," I replied cheerfully.

"Yeah..." she replied.

The rest of the ride was very quiet.

((Agrabah))

Mystery took us to a town with scorching heat and tons upon tons of SAND!

"Dang, I'm sweating just looking at the place," I said.

Anata didn't say anything back. What was up? When we landed, Mystery went away again and we started looking around.

"So, what's the plan now," I asked Anata, maybe getting her to talk.

"Yeah, I got a plan," she said.

Success!

"I'll look over here, and you leave me alone."

I take it back... I was about to ask what her problem was, but I'm sure that wouldn't help too much so I'll go up this pole thingy.

It looks kinda fun.

((Anata))

That bastard calls my feelings an 'impulse'. Next time, I'll show him what impulse my Keyblade has on his legs! I was _so_ angry that I actually wished Heartless would show up so I could let out my anger. As if on cue, some Heartless I've never seen before pop up. They had turbans and long Scimitars. They had a peculiar looking insignia on their chest but I didn't care what it meant. I was in pulverization mode.

"COME HERE, BITCHES TIME TO GET DEAD, ANATA STYLE!"

This was gonna be fun!

((Seth))

When I got to the top, I found a room with crates and two exits to the outside.

"Why would you need two exits," I asked. "Sliding down the pole seems more fun!"

I looked around the room. It was all tattered and run down. Sand was all over the furniture and chests. The only thing that was awesome was standing in a corner; a ruby the size of my head.

"Holy dollar signs," I shouted.

Just then a man with baggy white pants, a red hat and a purple vest came through one of the exits.

"Uurahhahh," the monkey on the man's shoulder screeched.

"Get 'em, Abu," he yelled.

The monkey lunged at me but before he reached his target, I summoned my Keyblade and blocked him. But while I blocked, I also swung, making Abu fly back towards the wall.

"Abu," the man yelled.

He went to his friend. Abu was still breathing, just unconscious. He turned to me with a mad face but it went away when he saw my weapon.

"A Keyblade... Do you know Ashe," he asked.

"Ashe? Of course I do. How do you know him?"

"He came through the town not too long ago. My name is Aladdin. Sorry for the attack, we thought you were a robber."

"It's fine. My name is Seth."

We shook hands. Aladdin took out a lamp and rubbed it. Out came a blue figure yelling off the top of his lungs.

"YYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" It shouted.

"Oww!" I screamed. All the loud noises seem to get in my ears!

"Hey Al! What can I do ya for, old buddy? And who might this be?"

"I'm Seth, who are you?"

"I am the Magical Genie of the Lamp! Genie for short."

"Cool," I said.

"Genie! Wake up Abu!"

"As you wish, Al," Genie said.

He waved his arm and suddenly, Abu woke.

"Abu, this is Seth. He is a friend," Aladdin told him.

"Racchaa..." Abu replied.

I took that as barely accepting me, which is understandable by how we had to meet.

"So, Seth what brings you to Agrabah?"

"I'd like to know myself," I replied. "There's probably something here that has something to do with the Heartless but I'm not sure what."

Well we can help right guys?"

"Urachahaha," Abu screeched.

"Yessir," Genie agreed.

"Cool, thanks you guys," I said, gratefully.

"No problem," Aladdin said.

"Where should we go first?"

"Well, I got a friend here with me. We should go find her," I suggested.

"Sounds good," Aladdin said as Genie went back to the lamp.

((Anata))

I felt like I was done venting. I dropped my Keyblade, and it disappeared in a bright light I panted from the exhaustion.

"I'm glad I got that out of my system," I said, stretching.

I heard clapping from behind me.

"Bravo, well done, Kingdom Key," the voice said.

From their tone of voice and calling me 'Kingdom Key,' I knew who they were. I turned to see a woman with short spiky white hair dressed in light blue.

"Are you G.L.A.S.S.," I asked her.

"Well done, kid yes I am. I am the first 'S' member; Synda."

"You're in a world of hurt now, lady," I said as I readied my Keyblade.

"Wait a second, your just gonna let that boy get away with what he said to you," Synda asked, referring to Seth. "Trust me hun, you shouldn't be mad at me, you should be mad at him."

"What," I asked. Screw it; I don't have time for this. This isn't about him. This is about what your messenger did to my home. I will take you all down even if it is the last thing I do!"

"You like Seth. I could hear your complaining from half-way across the world," she said. "He obviously doesn't see you as anything else then a friend, doesn't that hurt? Trust me sweetie, I've been there."

I stood there in thought. I was curious so I decided to let her humor me.

"What are you suggesting...?"

All she did was throw me an evil grin and chuckled.

"This is what you do, Anata..."


	14. Ch 14: Saving Anata

((Seth))

We went outside down the sliding pole and started looking for Anata.

"Where did you see her last, Seth," Aladdin asked.

"Well... she went... that way, after she told me to go away," I said pointing to the west.

"She went towards the Palace?"

"Wait, there's a Palace? Wow, good thing you're here, I wouldn't have known."

"Even if you looked around?"

"Well, Anata told me to stay around here."

"The way you put the her plan, it seemed like she was mad. You didn't ask about it," Aladdin asked.

"I did once but she didn't wanna say. I like to keep her happy, but it ain't going too well," I replied.

"Ah, you two remind me of me and Jasmine," Aladdin said, smiling.

He nudged my shoulder with his elbow and continued.

"How long have you been together?"

"What? No, no we aren't like that, not yet," I replied quickly.

"Aha! You said yet!"

"No!" Damn it, why'd I say yet?"

"Oh, you know why…"

"She's my best friend and that's it! Anyway, let's try to find her."

((Anata))

"What? No! I can't do that he's my best friend!"

"So that's it? You're just gonna let this go? Our messenger was right. You are just a spineless brat," Synda taunted.

"I think I'll turn your plan against you," I said as I readied my Keyblade.

The woman sighed.

"I guess I'm gonna have to do this the hard way..."

She opened a dark portal. Out of the portal a dark figure came out. At first I thought it was a Heartless, but then it started talking.

"My God, what do you want now," the figure said.

"Nice to see you too," Synda said in an irritated tone. "Derak this is the Kingdom Key's successor you were told about."

"Oh, yeah. You. Can I go home?"

Derak looked about seventeen years old. He had blonde hair and dark clothing consisting of a black sleeveless shirt, jeans, spiked wristbands, black shoes, and a strange purple symbol on his shirt.

"Erase, you worthless piece of crap," Synda commanded.

"Fine, but I don't wanna do the dirty work. She doesn't seem worth my time," Derak retorted.

"Not worth it? You're going down, emo kid," I yelled.

I launched a Blitz at him but Synda blocked all my attacks with wind.

"Haha! Over here, Kingdom Key," Synda yelled.

I turned to face her. Synda had twin blades that kinda looked like coat hangers. The odd weapons looked short ranged.

"You can't get me from long range with those," I yelled.

"I don't need to," she replied. "WIND!"

Suddenly, whirlwinds were launched at me, tossing me in the air then slamming me back to the ground.

"Owwww..." I mumbled in pain.

Where did that come from?

"Satisfied," Synda asked Derak.

"That should be enough," Derak replied.

The boy knelt down to me and showed a darkness-encased hand. The darkness got bigger as time went on.

"From now on, you are gonna be a different person," he told me.

I blacked out after that.

((Seth))

We walked around for a little bit and ended up by a hole in the wall.

"What's this," I asked Aladdin.

"Hmm... I don't know," he replied. "Secret passage of some kind?"

"Ochhrachacha," Abu screeched as he ran through the passage.

"Abu," Aladdin yelled.

I didn't hear him because just then we heard crazy strong wind blow from the right and some blood curdling cries.

"Aladdin," I yelled. "Did you hear that? I think that might've been Anata!"

"Yeah, but... Abu..." Aladdin replied.

"We can worry about him later! Besides, you said she went towards the palace right? What if that was Jasmine?!"

That got his attention.

"Jasmine! Let's go Seth," Aladdin said as we ran where the scream came from.

When we got there, we saw Anata.

She was with a woman with spiky white hair in light blue and a blonde teenager in black.

"Anata," I yelled hugging her.

"Thank God we found you. Who are they," I said pointing at the unfamiliar people.

"Pointing is rude, Ends of the Earth," The woman said.

"You must be G.L.A.S.S.," I said summoning my Keyblade.

"So this is him, right Synda," The teen asked. "He would've been worth my energy. I sense an abundance of dark force in him."

"What are you talking about," I asked him.

"I'm going. We'll meet eachother real soon," he said going through a dark portal.

"I'm out too," Synda said. "I'll leave this up to your girlfriend here."

Synda left with the same method as the strange boy. When they left I turned back to Anata.

"Anata what were you doing with them," I asked.

"What do you care," Anata replied as she readied her Keyblade.

This wasn't like her.

"Anata, what's gotten into you," I asked.

"I'm a new person Seth," she said. "A person that is gonna rip you and your new friend to shreds."

"Anata..."

"What do you care? I can see you replaced me already! And you're probably going to Princess Jasmine's Palace to be with her aren't you? AREN'T YOU?! ITS TIME FOR YOU TO REST IN PEACE!"

"Don't make me fight you! Please! I'm not replacing anyone with anything! And Jasmine's with Aladdin so I'm obviously not doing that!"

That didn't help at all because she launched a Strike Raid at me. I blocked it no problem, but it was just a decoy. She caught me off guard by running up to me, catching her Keyblade and thrusting it at her target. I barley blocked a second time.

"Hey Al," I asked. "I'm gonna need your help on this one. She's stronger then usual."

"No problem," he said as he readied his saber.

We battled valiantly, but that wasn't enough. She had the same dark aura I had when Glass Man killed Riku. We tried ganging up on her but she got us with Thunder. We charged in, but got burned with Fire. We even tried a decoy system of Aladdin attacking and me coming up behind her but, she froze him with Blizzard and at the last second flung me into a clay pot. It seemed like there wasn't any other way but then I remembered something.

"Aladdin," I yelled. "Summon Genie!"

"I almost forgot," he said as he took out the lamp.

He started to rub it, but Anata rushed at him. I sent her flying away with a good Fire spell.

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!"

Genie sure likes making an entrance...

"Wish for Anata's darkness to repress! I got an idea," I said.

"Genie! You heard the man," Aladdin commanded.

"One dark cleansing, coming right up," Genie announced.

When he was done, Anata fell down, unconscious. After that, Genie went back in the lamp.

"Is she gonna be okay," Aladdin asked as we ran to her.

"Yep. Just one more thing I gotta do..." I said as I tried to remember what master tought me...

"Just point your Keyblade and try to summon light."

"Summon light," I asked.

"Yeah, its easy," Riku explained.

"Point, think of light, shoot."

A light came out of the end of his Keyblade.

"Wow," I exclaimed.

I tried many times, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get it.

"Master, help me," I pleaded.

"Here's a hint; for light, just think of something or someone that makes you happy."

"Happy... got it. Point, think of light, shoot!"

A blast of light came out of my Keyblade, and the kickback knocked me into Riku making us fall on the ground.

"Ooff," Riku grunted.

"Hehe, that was pretty good," Riku said. "What did you think of?"

"I thought of you, Aqua, and Anata; my family," I said smiling.

"Haha, you guys make me happy too," Riku replied. "Lets head back, kid."

I breathed deeply and raise my Keyblade at Anata.

"Uhm, Seth," Aladdin asked. "What are you doing? Isn't this your friend?"

"Calm down, I got this," I said.

"Point, think of light, SHOOT!"

Light came out of my Keyblade and Anata was cleansed complacently of the foreign darkness inside of her.

"Lets take her back to your place. When she wakes up, we can find Abu, okay," I said to Aladdin.

"Sounds good," He said.

I picked my friend up and we walked back the way we came.

"How'd you do that," Aladdin asked. "I'm curious."

"Well, it is a light cleansing technique I learned from a good friend of mine. Point the Keyblade at the target, think of something that makes you happy, and release the thought as light, out the end and there ya go," I explained.

Explaining things made me feel smart!

"What did you think of," he asked me.

I looked up at the sky and said with a smile; "I thought of Anata."


	15. Ch 15: Wondering Where We Are

When we got back to Aladdin's house, we found Abu sitting on a pile of gold, greedily running the pieces through his little fingers and a familiar figure in a black cloak.

"G.L.A.S.S. Man," I shouted readying my Keyblade.

"Calm yourself Ends of the Earth, I'm not here to harm you. I came to bring your friend back and what he was itching for," he said motioning toward Abu.

"How did you get that much gold," Aladdin asked.

"Somewhere special," G.L.A.S.S. man said. "Farewell."

He went into a dark corridor and disappeared.

I could sense Abu's light fading.

"Aladdin, get Abu away from the gold," I said. "The more he touches it, the more dark he becomes and soon a Heartless."

At the word 'Heartless' Aladdin got the monkey away from the gold.

"Where do we put it," I asked.

"I guess we could give it to Jasmine," Aladdin suggested.

"Okay. You can give her the gold, and I can stay back with Anata and Abu."

"Why Abu?"

"To keep him away from the gold."

"I see. Stay Abu! I won't be long."

Aladdin shoved the gold in multiple burlap sacks and took them to the palace.

Abu tried to go after him with the gold, but I trapped him in a corner. I took a roll of duct tape from Anata's pouch and I looked down on my prisoner.

"Abu, meet my friend, Duct Tape," I said, ripping a piece from the roll.

"Ourrchaaracha..."

When Aladdin got back, Anata was awake. We told her everything that happened, and forgave her for attacking us.

"Not the best first impression, but oh well," Aladdin said. "What's the plan?"

"I think we should go back to that hole in the wall. Abu must have sensed something we couldn't," I said.

"Sounds good," Anata said.

We got up and left for our destination.

When we got there, we ran into some Heartless.

"I got them," Anata said. "It's the least I can do from earlier."

She slashed with her Keyblade with light attacks I've never seen before.

'Riku and Aqua didn't teach me any of that...' I thought.

"C'mon, Seth," Aladdin yelled. "Anata went in the cave already!"

"Coming," I yelled. I must've spaced out.

The cave was big on the inside, tons bigger then you would've thought by the entrance.

"It seems we could get lost here," Aladdin commented. "We gotta stay together."

"Right," Anata and I agreed.

After looking around a bit, we found some pillars, a switch, and a high up ledge. Before we could decide what to do, Abu pressed the switch. We heard something on the top of the ledge click and decided to have Anata and myself hit the pillars over to the ledge. We climbed up the pillars to find a locked door and a jewel with a missing piece.

"What fits in here," I asked.

"I don't know," Aladdin said. "A stone of some kind?"

"I picked up something fighting Heartless when we first got here," Anata joined in.

"It should fit... Like this!"

The door opened and we walked through it.

"That was convenient," I said.

The room we were in now had a maze of moving pillars and a door at the top.

"First one there wins," I challenged.

"No guys we have to stay-"

"Three. Two. One. GO," Aladdin yelled.

We raced to the first pillar when it came down.

"Boys... what is with them," Anata asked as she ran after us.

After some pillar climbing, shoving, kicking and punching, I naturally came out on top with Anata and Aladdin not too far behind.

"What up, bitches," I taunted.

Anata hit me in the head as a response and went through the door.

"Oww…" I said as me and Aladdin followed.

This room was two parts: the part we were on and a part that was a long way up. In between was what seemed to be a bottomless pit.

"That is a long way down," I exclaimed.

It would suck to fall down that! I think I know why there were skeletons on the ground in the first room... After a long time of looking around Aladdin noticed we were missing something.

"Hey, where's Abu," he asked.

All I did was shrug. I looked at Anata and she nodded in agreement. The monkey was gone.

To the left of us, we heard a familiar screeching.

We went down some stairs to find Abu by a wooden pole with what looked like a wagon wheel wedged inside of it.

"What happens if we turn it," Aladdin asked while turning the wheel.

Some stairs popped up above the bottomless pit. Me and Anata ran for the stairs, but when we got there they disappeared.

"Do that again," I yelled to Aladdin.

He turned the wheel and we summoned our Keyblades. Why? Because running up stairs with Keyblades make us look badass. We ran up the stairs as fast as we could, but when we got to the top, they fell down again.

"What do we do about Aladdin," Anata asked.

Just then, we see a purple and red blur go passed us. We look over and we see Aladdin on a floating carpet.

"I don't think you guys met Carpet," Aladdin said.

Show off.

We went ahead a little bit and saw a white portal with someone standing next to it.

"It's Synda," Anata gasped as we all ran towards her.

When we got close enough for her to hear us coming she turned around and smiled.

"How good it is to see you again," Synda said. "Did you like the present I had delivered?"

"What are you doing here," Aladdin asked.

"This little thing went up a long time ago and it doesn't seem to have gone away," the woman started. "Strange, portals usually do that when used. Aha! Maybe this can be used to unite two worlds."

She showed us an evil look as she opened a portal of her own.

"Abbuuuu," she called.

Abu looked up at her and saw a giant ruby redder then any apple I've ever seen.

"You know you want it," she said as she tossed it in the portal.

Abu's greed got ahead of him as he leaped from Aladdin's shoulder and into the portal.

"Abu," we all shouted.

Synda snickered as she went through the dark portal. All at once we ran toward the portal to get Abu.

When we got to the other side, we found ourselves in a peculiar world. We were in some sort of courtyard, but the trees and hedges seemed painted on to the walls.

"Abu! ABU," Aladdin called.

"Where are we," Anata said looking around.

I had no. Freaking. Idea.


	16. Ch 16: Greed Kong

I decided to come right out and say it.

"I have no idea."

"C'mon guys," Aladdin said frantically. "We gotta find Abu!."

"Whoa whoa, hold on there," Anata said. "You aren't supposed to be here, you aren't even supposed to know this IS here. You need to blend in or people are gonna start asking questions."

"Okay, fine what do I do?"

"Hmm... we could hide in the bushes until someone comes along, knock them out, and 'borrow' their clothes..." I suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Anata agreed.

"That's gonna take too long! We need to find Abu now," Aladdin said.

Just then we heard footsteps coming our direction.

"Everyone in the bushes," I whispered, pushing Aladdin in with us.

We saw a young girl, roughly three years younger than us with blonde hair and a blue dress walking towards a hedge maze.

"I am NOT putting on that dress," Aladdin said.

"Shhh," Anata replied.

She turned around and looked at us.

"Hello? Is someone there," she asked.

We stayed silent until Aladdin decided to get up.

"Yes. My name is Aladdin and I'm looking for my friend Abu. He is a small monkey have you seen him?"

'Damn it Aladdin," Anata whispered.

"Glad to meet you! My name is Alice. I'm sorry to say that I have not seen him. Is there someone else with you," Alice said.

She can hear like a bat!

"Yep," Aladdin said as he pulled us up.

"This is Seth and this is Anata."

"Nice to meet you two as well! You know, you don't have to be hiding from me, I don't bite."

"Yeah, but there are probably things around here that do," I said.

"Oh yes, the Heartless."

"You know about the Heartless?"

"Indeed. A boy came here not some time ago and he helped get rid of most of them but I can sense that they all aren't gone yet."

"Ashe?"

"Yes that was his name."

"Figured as much."

"Who," Anata asked.

"Just a friend. You'll know when you see him," I told her.

"Can you help us find Abu," Aladdin asked the girl

"Of course I will. I don't know what help I could be."

"I think I know," I said.

"If I remember right, you are one of the seven princesses of light; Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, yourself and- oh..."

I forgot that Kairi was Anata's mother and she died. I could tell by the sad look on Anata's face that it was not a good thing.

"Way to go, jackass," Aladdin whispered to me.

"Shut up," I whispered back.

"Sorry," I said to Anata.

"It's okay... let's just find Abu and get out of here," she said heading towards the maze.

Aladdin went up to Anata to explain my idiocy while I walked with Alice to explain the rest of my plan.

"Abu has a greed problem. Since he was sent here with a jewel, he might be going crazy with darkness. So if you follow the darkness-"

"It will lead us to Abu! Great idea Seth," Alice said.

The dark trail lead us to a forest.

It was slightly different than the rest of the world. Stuff was still painted on, but there were actual plants here. We went into a room and found some heartless.

"Fire," Anata and I casted.

The Heartless absorbed the fire ball that shot from our blades.

"Maybe it's best not to use magic here," Aladdin suggested.

That means no more Thunder... I like Thunder.

We slashed our way to victory against the creatures and continuing our search, jumping on mushrooms, rocks, and anything else we could climb on.

"Abu is close, I can feel it," Alice warned. "The darkness is bigger than I imagined..."

"We gotta hurry," Aladdin panicked.

Before we could do anything, the man ran ahead of us, shouting his lost friend's name.

"Aladdin wait," we all shouted.

But he didn't hear us, and as a result he placed his foot on some leaves and fell down into a hole.

"Aladdin," we shouted.

We ran to help our friend out, to find Heartless appear by him and around where he fell.

"You help him. I can get these guys," Anata said to me.

"Be careful."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied as I jumped in.

Aladdin had almost all of them gone. He went for the last one but it chose the area I fell to and I crushed it.

"Nice timing," he said.

"I try," I replied.

"Dang, I was hoping to see _her_ again. Oh well," A voice said behind us.

We turned to see a slender man with black spiky hair in a yellow uniform that I knew too well.

"I'm Sabastian; The second 'S' member in G.L.A.S.S. I'm sure you heard of me."

"Yeah, Anata said you put the Guard Armor in Traverse Town. What do you want now?"

"All I want to do is show you your friend," he said.

"Abu? Where is he?"

As if on cue, Abu came out of a dark part of the hole.

"I found him with this," Sabastian said.

It was the ruby Synda had earlier. He moved it around in his fingers as he admired it. His focus went back to us with a sneer on his face.

"I think I'll give it back."

He tossed it to Abu. The monkey went for it and as soon as he touched it, his eyes turned a gold color.

"What did you do to him," Aladdin asked.

"Abu changed form because his greed overtook him," Sabastian started. "Who knows what he might do to this world if he gets out..."

And with that, Sabastian opened a portal and left. We turned our attention back at Abu. Where he was standing, we saw a gorilla. Its fur was black and had golden eyes. The ruby Abu had was embedded in its forehead.

"What is-" Aladdin started.

He stopped when he noticed the familiar hat on the monster's head.

"Abu?"

The dark gorilla that took Abu's place pounded his chest with great strength and anger.

"RROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRR!"

"Abu..."

"I'm helping you here," I said. "After all, you did help me with Anata, right?"

"Yeah... Thank you," Aladdin said. "Abu! If you're in there, try to snap out of it!"

Abu replied with a loud roar as he tossed his friend aside and ran for the exit. Abu didn't get out. He was launched back into the hole, sliding towards us with a confused and irritated look. Anata jumped in, Keyblade ready and Alice followed.

"Light is the only way to turn him to normal," Alice said. "I can do it, but he needs to be weakened."

"Leave it to us," Anata said as her, Aladdin and myself charged at the Heartless.

Abu's ruby shot a ray at us and we barley dodged it. Seeing the dark spots on the ground that it hit, I'm very glad we did!

Anata went up to him with a Blitz, but she got knocked away the giant gorilla arm.

'He's strong,' I thought.

"Anata," I shouted. "We can get him from long range while Aladdin gets him short range."

"Good idea," she said. "He can only concentrate on one thing at a time."

Aladdin swiftly charges Abu and dodges his arm thrusts.

"Deadly Fountain," Anata and I shouted.

Anata used Fire and I combined it with Blizzard to get a powerful water jet. It worked really well. Aladdin was fighting him close range, making Aladdin Abu's top priority, and the Deadly Fountain hit him, causing more damage. After a while our water ran out, and Aladdin got thrown at us. Anata dodged him but I wasn't so lucky. One minute I was standing, the next minute I was on the ground under Abu's human torpedo. The gorilla was too busy laughing at us to notice Anata sneak up behind him.

"Heeyaa," she shouted stabbing him in the back.

Her attack would knock him over, giving Alice the perfect opportunity to strike.

"Light," she yelled, summoning a Holy spell in her hands.

When she had enough energy, she shot it at Abu. Slowly, the gorilla transformed back to the little monkey we knew.

"Abu," Aladdin said, running toward him. "Are you alright?"

"Rrrrumbuuu..." Abu mumbled in exhaustion.

"It's a good thing you showed up," I said to Anata. "Abu would've destroyed this place for sure."

"Ya think so," Anata asked.

"Definitely," I said back.

She was blushing again! I chuckled and walked over to the others.

"Thank you Alice, we couldn't have found him without you," I said.

"Ohh it was my pleasure," she said back.

"Let's get out of here."

We shouted goodbye and waved to Alice as we rode Mystery back to Agrabah.

"What about the portal," Aladdin asked.

"When Alice made Abu better, the portal vanished," Anata replied.

"How do you know," I asked.

"I'm not sure... but I know I'm right," she replied.

When we got to Agrabah we went to Aladdin's house.

"I hope he gets better," Anata said.

"Oh, he will," Aladdin said rubbing his lamp.

Blue smoke would emerge from the lamp, and our good friend Genie would appear yet again.

"YEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH," he shouted, making an entrance. "What can I do ya for, Al?"

"Genie, can you make Abu well again?"

"You got it," Genie said snapping his fingers.

Abu woke and started jumping around.

"You know, I kinda liked it better when he was asleep," Aladdin said.

We all laughed.

"So he had a genie in his pocket the whole time," Anata asked as the two of us walked outside.

"Yeah, but he forgets a lot," I said.

We waved goodbye to Aladdin, Genie, and Abu as we rode Mystery to our next destination.


	17. Ch17: King Mickey's Not So Welcome Home

((Traverse Town))

I looked out the window to see the familiar dark skies of Traverse Town.

"Traverse Town? I thought we came here already," I said when we landed.

"Well, Mystery was never wrong before, we might need something here," Anata reasoned.

Kupo was the first thing we saw when we walked out of our vessel.

"Hey! Welcome back, Kupo!"

"Wassup, Kupo," I asked as I gave him a hi-five.

"Who's Kupo," Anata asked.

"I'm Kupo, Kupo," Kupo told her proudly.

"Right... Where's The King," she asked him.

"Investigating the Third District, Kupo," Kupo said.

"Thanks Kupo," I said. "C'mon Anata."

"You're welcome, Kupo."

"Is he aware that he says his own name after everything he says," Anata asked me as we made our way to the Third District.

"That's why I named him Kupo," I said.

"You named that Moogle?"

"Yep, isn't it great?"

"Sure..."

When we got there, we saw our little friend battling fat Heartless we've never seen before. He seemed to be losing.

"Deadly Fountain," I asked Anata.

"Yeah, sure," she replied.

We preformed the Limit Spell as we did before; Anata using Fire and I using Blizzard to create a powerful wave of water.

All the Heartless were destroyed by our force. Mickey looked up at us.

"Anata! Seth! What brings you to town," he asked us.

"Mystery brought us here so we thought we needed something," Anata explained.

"Hey! Maybe we needed you," I said looking at Mickey.

"Me? What for," he asked.

"I don't know, it's just a guess," I said.

"Welp, let's get goin'! The town is safe in the hands of Kupo and The Moogles."

"Sounds good," I said as Anata summoned our train.

((Disney Castle))

We looked out the window and saw hedges in shapes of people.

One was squished but that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that every where we looked there was Mickey's head.

"Would this place just so happen to be your home," Anata asked him.

"Yes! This is my castle," he said. "Gosh, it'll be great to see everyone again."

When we got off the train we were immediately greeted by Heartless. We summoned our Keyblades and all at once, the three of them glowed with light. They rose from our hands and sprinkled the whole place with light, killing all the Heartless.

"Triple Shower," I suggested.

My friends went with it. I was awesome at names.

"If there are Heartless here..." Mickey started. He gasped with horror and looked at us with eyes full of fear.

"We gotta check inside! Let's go," Mickey said.

We tried to catch up with him but he was so damn fast! I swear he could beat a Thunder in a race. When we got to a place that looked like a library, we saw a mouse and a duck in dresses talking to a woman with red hair and dark blue clothing. The difference between the animals was the mouse had a crown. The woman's outfit was designed similar to that of Synda's.

"Please, don't hurt anyone! I'll give you anything," the mouse pleaded.

"Minnie, Daisy, what's happening here," Mickey asked.

"Oh, Mickey," she said hugging him.

"If I were to guess I'd say that's the queen," I said out loud.

"You're _so_ smart aren't you," The woman sneered sarcastically.

"Who are you? Are you G.L.A.S.S., "Anata asked.

"Yes. I'm the 'G' member in G.L.A.S.S. My name is Gaira, and you are messing up my negotiation with Queen Minnie!"

"Did you make any deals," Mickey asked his wife.

"I wouldn't make any decision regarding the Kingdom without you, Mickey."

"Good," the mouse king started. "And we aren't negotiating with anyone! Leave now!"

"You don't understand," Gaira said holding a model of Disney Castle.

She picked up a small hedge on the model.

"If I move the hedge the slightest bit..."

Out the window we saw a hedge move towards the castle. Gaira squished it in her hand and we saw a crumpled ball of leaves where the floating hedge was.

"All of them gone is me being nice. You don't want me angry," she said.

Mickey looked sad. There didn't seem to be anything we could do.

"What is it... that you want," he asked.

"For the exchange of me leaving, I want you to tell me where the Cornerstone of Light is," she stated. "Unless you want your beloved castle to be thrown to the Lanes Between."

She lifted up the castle model slightly. We felt the castle move as she made it. Gaira then wiggled it back and forth, making things fly everywhere; we went flying towards the wall. Anata landed on me, Minnie landing on Mickey, and Daisy landing on her own puke.

"EEewwwww," she shouted.

"Anata. You can get off now," I said to her.

"Oh...Yeah sorry," she said, blushing _again_.

The King and Queen muttered something but we couldn't hear what it was. Mickey then said something that shocked us all.

"Minnie, go ahead. Tell her where the Cornerstone is."

"But Your Majesty," Daisy yelled in shock.

"Mickey, what's going on," I whispered.

"I'll explain later," he said.

This was promising.

"We have a deal then," Gaira asked, somehow still standing where she was when she shook the castle.

"The Cornerstone is in the throne room," Minnie said. "You go through the door, and press the button under the thrown handle. It's down the stairs."

"Very good," Gaira said.

She tucked the Vu-Du-Model away in to a Corridor of Darkness and walked to the exit.

"I was afraid I would've had to cause world damage," she continued.

"Do you G.L.A.S.S. people have a conscious," I asked her before she opened the door.

"What can I say," Gaira asked. "We have hearts made of G.L.A.S.S."

We got up after she left and Mickey started talking.

"Daisy, you can change out of that dirty dress but come back after."

"Yes thank you Your Majesty," Diasy said as she left.

"Minnie, you get the servants to clean this place up."

"Right," Minnie said.

"C'mon, guys," he told me and Anata.

"Uhm, where are we going," I asked him.

"We are gonna make sure Gaira doesn't get our Cornerstone," he said running off.

All we could do is follow suit.

We all had our Keyblade out as we ran (because it makes us look badass). We checked around a corner before we went on and found Gaira on a giant shield, water propelling her along.

"I thought for sure she controlled gravity," Anata said.

"Yeah same here," I said as we went on.

Three more turns and we made it to our destination. We waited for Gaira to get through the door before we walked over there.

"Are you ready," Mickey asked us.

We nodded.

"Okay. Let's go," he said as he opened the door.


	18. Ch 18: Castle Crisis: Ashe's Return

When we saw Gaira go down the stairs we ran as fast as we could to the throne.

We were amazed that she didn't hear us coming. When she got to the base of the stairs, Mickey did a flipidey thingy and landed in front of her.

"You are not getting our Cornerstone," he said with anger.

While she was distracted, me and Anata slashed at her with our Keyblades when suddenly, she dissolved in water. The puddle she left reformed and she hit Anata away with her shield.

"Anata," Mickey and I shouted.

Mickey rushed at the enemy but she blocked at the last second. I slashed at her immediately after, but before I could, she kicked me and I hit the wall. She jumped over Mickey (not a challenge) and made her way to the Cornerstone.

"You love Heartless, yes," Gaira asked. "Well, try this one!"

She summoned a dark corridor. Out of the corridor, came a giant blue Heartless with tusks on the side of its face.

"Meet Arc Behemoth," she said, running away.

"I'll get Gaira, you guys take the Heartless," Mickey said.

"Got it," I said.

I got up from the ground. I had some scratches and bruises, but nothing to complain about. I looked at Anata, who was more beat up than I was.

"Ready?"

"Yeah let's go," Anata replied.

The Arc Behemoth charged at us but we easily dodged.

We kept hitting its legs but it didn't seem to affect the blue beast.

"Thunder," I shouted.

If all else fails, I resort to Thunder. The spell hit its large horn on its head and stunned the Heartless.

"You distract him while I hit the horn," Anata said.

"Gotcha," I said, running up to it.

"Hey you," I shouted. "You're so slow and stupid that I bet you can't hit me!"

The Arc Behemoth looked at me then shot a Blizzard Ray at me. Thank God I dodged, I had no idea it had that! So I ran around while it tried to shoot me, which was very exhausting.

"Anata, hurry the hell up," I shouted.

"I got it, I got it," she shouted, finally getting to his head.

She hit it once with one of her famous light attacks and it collapsed right where i was standing. I ran to get out of the way, but I was crushed.

"MMMMMMMMM," I mumbled under the giant Heartless.

A little bit later, it disappeared.

"Eyeyeyeyeeehh..." I groaned.

Being under a giant Heartless isn't fun! It's like if an elephant sat on your face!

"Heal," Anata casted.

My scratches were cured, but the terrible experience was still there.

"Next giant Heartless we fight, I'm hitting its head..." I said.

"Maybe you should just watch where you're standing," Anata said smiling.

"Well, the Cornerstone of Light seems okay," I said. "What do we do?"

Just then we heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs. We looked over to see an old friend with a knight, a blonde girl and a white-haired boy walking towards us.

"Oi! You started the fighting without us? What the hell?"

"This is him?" Anata asked me.

"I told ya you'd know him when ya saw him!"

"Seth! How's it going man," Ashe asked giving me a high-five.

"Not much. Ashe this is-"

"Ah yes, I've heard of you Anata," Ashe said winking.

Oh wow, Ashe is hitting on her? Anata summoned her Kingdom Key and hit him across the face.

"Ow! God damn it what the hell," he said in pain.

"Who're they," I said turning to the Ashe's companions.

"I'm Max, Acting Captain of the King's Royal Guard," the knight said.

"I'm Maka Albarn and this is my partner Soul Eater," the girl said.

Soul showed off his sharp teeth and waved; "Wassup?"

On closer inspection of the partners, Maka's blonde hair was in pigtails on the sides of her head. She wore a typical schoolgirl uniform, but I didn't recognize it from anywhere I've seen before. Anata didn't seem to either. Soul wore a white headband that said his name on it in black lettering. He had red jeans and a black and yellow jacket. On the back of his jacket was a strange yellow blob thing that I didn't recognize. The only explanation for this was Maka and Soul were from another world.

"Her Majesty sent us with Ashe to find the Radiant Garden Unit," Max said. "But sadly..."

"Yeah, we know…" I said thinking of my former master.

"Where is Mickey," Ashe asked.

"He went after Gaira, A member of G.L.A.S.S."

"Oh... So one of those bitches is here, eh?"

"Yeah. Now let's go find Mickey," Anata said as we walked up the stairs.

"Knowing him, he's probably kicking that Gaira girl's ass," Ashe said, punching the air like he was in a boxing match.

Typical Ashe. He is soooo cocky and arrogant. When we got to the Throne Room, we saw Mickey walk through the door, his head hanging in dissapointment.

"Gaira got away... I almost had her too," he said.

Mickey looked up and suddenly his jaw dropped. We looked up and saw a giant hole in the top of the wall. Pieces were scattered everywhere on the ground.

"Who put that hole in the top of the door," he said angrily.

Suddenly we all pointed to Max. The dude started freaking out.

"It wasn't me goddamit," he pleaded. "Ashe trucked me through the door!"

Anata and I looked at each other, and then we pointed our finger from Max to Ashe.

"It was Maka's idea!"

We pointed at Maka. Soul started chuckling, probably because it wasn't him taking the blame.

"Hold on! You've been here before so you should know there's a tiny door on the bottom!"

At this point I was confused.

"Will someone take the blame so I know who to point my finger at," Anata yells.

All at once, we point at Anata.

"Noo! Seth and I were down there the whole time," Anata said pointing down the stairs.

At once, we all pointed at Soul.

"This is so not cool," he said.

"So from what you told me," Mickey started. "It is all Ashe's fault."

Everyone but Ashe nodded several times. He turned to Max, Maka and Soul with a fierce looking face and said in a raspy voice:

"I despise all of you...!"

It was freaking scary!

"Ashe you have to clean this up," Mickey said.

"No problem," he said. "Check this out!"

He summoned two Keyblades and used the left one to put the pieces up and the right one to weld them together. Anata and I watched in awe.

"Two Keyblades," she asked Ashe.

"Suck it bitches," he shouted.

Anata shot light at him when he was done. He goes flying towards a wall.

"This guy is so annoying," she said to me.

"You learn to love him I guess," I replied.

"Well Ashe, what brings you here," Mickey said when we got to the Library.

"Well, the first time was by accident," he started. "This time is because of this riddle:

**"The door to the future leads to Disney's past, and the door to the past leads to your past. There, you will find the Heart," he recited.**

What do you make of it?"

"Disney's past could mean Disney Castle…" I said. "But how will you get to the past?"

"Timeless River," Anata said. "Dad told me about all his adventures and he said at Disney Castle he went through time. But how Ashe would get there..."

"Here's a little secret;" Ashe started. "I can control time. So going to this Timeless River place wouldn't be such a problem for me."

"Great idea, Ashe," Mickey said. "He can just use his time power! I know how to summon magic doors from Master Yen Sid so we should be set to go."

"Alright time to go to the past," Max said with excitement.

"Uhm, Max…" Mickey said.

"What is it Your Majesty?"

"You can't go with Ashe," he said. "I need you here to help me, that's why we have Soul and Maka going with'em."

"So what do I do in the meantime..." Max said, head hung over.

"You can come to Traverse Town with me. I'm sure the refugees need help," Mickey said.

"Yes, I'd love to Your Majesty," Max said.

"Great now to the Cornerstone," Ashe said.

When we got there Mickey summoned the door.

The door had two Keyholes so Ashe opened both with his Keyblades.

"See ya when I see ya," Max said giving his friend a bro-hug.

"Yeah" Ashe replied.

"Catch ya later," I said.

"Nice to meet you Ashe and good luck." Anata said. "Maka, Soul, you too!"

Before Ashe went through, my older friend pulled me aside.

"Watch her temper bro," Ashe said. "Short fuse, big explosion."

"Naw, dude she just don't like you," I said to him.

"Oh... wonderful!"

We went to join the others.

"It was nice to meet all of you," Maka said.

"Yeah, you guys seem pretty cool," Soul added.

"I'll see ya when I get back," Ashe said as he embarked on what we think will be the hardest part of his journey. When the door closed, it disappeared.

"So when are you taking Max to Traverse Town," I asked Mickey.

"I'll give him a rest today then we head out tomorrow."

"Yes," Max shouted happily.

"Looks like we need to head out," Anata said to me.

"Yeah," I replied.

"See you guys later," I said as Anata summoned our ride.

"Byyyeee," our friends said as we rode off to our next destination.


	19. Ch 19: Anata and I go to Hell

((Underworld))

The place we landed looked like hell.

Literally, it looked like HELL!

Everything looked like death or was going to die. Usually I was excited to enter a new world but when Mystery left, I wish I went with it.

"Damn, I wonder why the train took us to a place like this," Anata said looking around.

"I don't know but let's get this over with it feels like death here," I responded.

"Why's that," Anata asked. "Are you scared?"

"N-no," I answered. "I'm so calm right now I could explore this whole place by myself!"

"Okay, sounds good. You check over there and I'll go over here," Anata challenged.

"You know what," I said. "I think we should stick together, we've never been here before."

"I'm sure that's why..." she replied.

I've got to admit; sometimes Anata makes me feel weaker than her. We walked through a green door and saw orbs everywhere.

"What are these," I asked.

"I don't know," Anata said. "But it's probably not a good idea to- SETH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

I decided to poke one experimentally. After I touched it, I blacked out. The last thing I heard was Anata.

"Seth are you alright...?"

I awoke in a small circular room, and in a cage! I summoned my Keyblade to unlock it but it wouldn't work.

"What the hell is going on here," I shouted.

"Hell is right, Keyblade brat," I heard a voice say.

"Heroes are Zeroes in the Underworld."

((Anata))

"Seth are you alright," I asked him.

He wasn't responding so I shook him and all of a sudden, he disappeared. I was speechless.

'Don't touch the glowing orbs, got it,' I thought.

"Your friend is not dead if that's what you're wondering," I hear a voice say behind me.

I turn around and I see a man dressed in red with a sword at his shoulder. One of his arms was in a sling-type thing while the other was free. He had black hair and a patchy beard.

"Your Keyblade," he continued. "Where'd you get it?"

"Did you know Sora," I asked him.

"Yes. That's why I'm asking."

"Sora was my father. He died in battle and I was given his Keyblade," I said holding it up.

"Ah, I see. If you know Sora, then we aren't enemies. I'm Auron."

"My name is Anata," I said. "And my friend is Seth."

"Seth and Anata..." he said, deep in thought. "I can take you to your friend. I know this place pretty well."

"Thank you Auron!"

He grunted and started taking a path on the left.

I stood there a little confused until I realized he wanted me to follow so I jogged to catch up.

A little while later, we ran into Heartless.

I pulled out my Keyblade, and Auron had his sword.

"You can use that thing, right," he asked me.

"Dude, please," I replied.

I tried to shoot light but it wouldn't work.

"Huh," I said, confused.

"Your abilities and powers won't work down here."

"Damn it..." I said, hitting a Heartless.

After we destroyed them all, we kept going.

"Soooooo..." I started. "Why are you here?"

Auron looked back at me then looked ahead.

"I'm dead," he simply replied.

"Wait what," I asked. "How are you walking around 'n shit?"

"This is The Underworld. You know, where people go when they die."

"Oh... So this place really is hell, huh?"

"I guess."

He is so talkative.

We ended up in a circular room with an entrance leading to where I assumed where Seth was.

"This is where your friend should be," Auron said. "You ready?"

"I guess," I said as we walked deeper into the cave.

((Seth))

"What do you want," I asked the voice.

I saw two figures walking toward me. One had blue skin with fire for hair wearing a black cloak. The other was a man with dark skin, black hair and a muscular build.

"We both want the same thing, Ends of the Earth," the man said.

"Judging by your green outfit you must be G.L.A.S.S." I said to him.

"It's not nice to judge," he replied. "But yes I am part of G.L.A.S.S. My name is Ardol and I'm the 'A' member."

"Wonderful. Now what do you want," I asked.

I wasn't gonna give them anything since they put me in this damned cage, but I still wanted to know.

"We want your Keyblade," Ardol said.

"Not gonna happen," I said.

"They say that if you win against a Key Master in battle, the Keyblade will go to you," Ardol started. "And since your friend is here as well, probably trying to find you, Hades here decided to help me in this action in hopes to conquer the Kingdom Key."

"If you touch Anata, I will cut you, you BLUE BASTARD," I shout.

"If you can stand after my friend is done with you," Hades replied.

"So here's the deal, you and Ardol will fight and whoever wins, gets to leave. But the loser will have to stay forever."

"Fine," I said. I didn't really have much choice. "When's it all going down?"

"Five minutes. Be good 'till then, Kiddo," Hades said, snapping his fingers.

Black smoke went everywhere and when it cleared, he was gone.

"Rest up Seth," Ardol said.

"In your final battle, you're gonna figure out why I want YOUR Keyblade specifically."


	20. Ch 20: This is My Story

((Anata))

When Auron and I got to the other side, we found a giant area with fog everywhere on the ground.

"Huh," Auron said looking around. "Must've been a wrong turn."

"That's okay," I said. "Before we find Seth I think we should figure out a way to get my power back."

"There is a stone," Auron started. "But you have to go to the upper world to get it."

"Okay let's go," I said running back.

Auron wasn't coming with.

"Uhm, Auron? Let's go!"

"I said _you_ have to go to the upper world. I cannot because I am dead."

"Oh... So you're gonna stay in this spot?"

"Of course not. I'll find you when you get back."

"Fine," I said running back to where I came.

((Seth))

'Just four more minutes,' I thought. What am I gonna do?

I can't use my magic, Light Laser, even my abilities are capped thanks to this place's stupid rule! I took out the blue crystal that Riku gave me. I examined it closely and saw that it looked like a closed eye.

"What the hell," I said.

What would happen if I opened it? More importantly, how do I open it?

"I guess that's why Riku gave it to me," I decided.

Just two minutes left. Where's Anata? I hope she comes in time to back me up but I doubt it. My two minutes were up, it's go time. I stood up as I saw Hades come through a door.

"Well it's time to show us what you can do," Hades said, unlocking the door.

We went through the door he came out of and went through a tunnel. When we got to the other side, I saw a giant stadium. Hades put a hand on my shoulder.

"Put on a good show for our audience," he said as he left.

I walked in a little more and saw Ardol with a giant hammer.

We heard Hades shout over the intercom and he sounded pretty excited, too excited even.

"THIS IS IT! THE MATCH YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! ARDOL THE EARTH SMASHER VS SETH THE KEYBLADE MASTER! ARE YOU EXITED BECAUSE I SURE AM!"

"Get ready," Ardol said.

I readied my Keyblade, not knowing what to expect.

"Three! Two! One! FIGHT!"

Here we go.

((Anata: Olympus Coliseum))

The upper world looks so much different than the Underworld!

It must be some sort of coliseum because there were scoreboards on the wall to the right. I looked at them and on the top of them all I saw "#1- Sora"

"Haha! That's my dad," I said exited.

What he said was true.

"Eyeing the scoreboard I see," said a voice behind me. I looked back and saw a tall man in a Greek style battle uniform. He had short brown curly hair as well.

"My name is Hercules," he started. "As you can see I'm fighter #2 on the Hercules Cup. It's a little embarrassing but the guy who beat me was a good fighter and a good friend. I'm training for the day he comes back to I can reclaim my title! So how about you, are you here for the games?"

"Uhm no and about Sora... He's not coming back," I told him.

"You know Sora," he asked.

"Yeah, I'm his daughter, Anata. He was killed fighting Heartless."

"Oh... I'm sorry... So what are you here for?"

"My friend touched an orb in the Underworld and dissapeared. I met a man named Auron and he said that my powers don't work there."

"Say no more I got what you need," Hercules said pulling a yellow stone out of his pocket.

"This should help. Now don't lose this it's the only one of its kind. Be sure to bring it back."

"Thank you Hercules," I said.

"Anything for family of a friend," he replied as I went back to the Underworld.

((Seth))

I think I know why Ardol wants my Keyblade: He controls Earth.

Hence why he would want the Ends of the EARTH Keyblade. All I can do is survive and since I don't have my powers, It's very hard to do with a big dude trying to smash me with his hammer and Earth trying to end me.

'I need to stall until Anata gets here,' I thought.

I screamed while I ran around. Anyone would in my situation!

'Anata, hurry,' I thought.

While I was wishing she'd come, I got launched in the air by Ardol's hammer and hit a wall.

'Think only about the battle, got it,' I thought while trying to recover.

I ran around some more until I heard on the intercom; "HALFTIME! FIGHTERS GO TO YOUR RESPECTIVE SIDES!"

Thank God this is almost over.

((Anata: Underworld))

When I got back to the Underworld, I saw Auron by the green door.

"I got it," I shouted while running to him.

He grunted and went through the door. Enthusiasm would kill this guy! We got to the point we were before we took the wrong turn (which just so happened to be the beginning) and went right. After some twists and turns we reached a room with a path that went up to a circular platform. We went up the path and found some Heartless on the platform.

"Show me what power Sora's namesake has obtained," Auron told me.

"FIRE, BLIZZARD, THUNDER," I said casting all three at the same time. The spells created a whirlwind that destroyed all but one Heartless. I walked up to it and gave it the stabbity treatment. The end.

"How's that," I asked turning to find no one there.

"Huh," I said.

Where'd Auron go?

"You coming," Auron said, at the mouth of the cave. "This leads to your friend."

I ran over to him and we walked through the cave.

We saw Seth battling a heavily built man well, more like running away from him.

"This must be embarrassing," Auron said.

"Yeah..." I agreed.

Auron threw his sword at the window, making a hole for us to get to the stadium. The sword flew at the man but he knocked it away with his hammer. We jumped out the window and landed by Seth.

"We got our power back," I said showing him the Olympus Stone.

"Huh... Thunder," Seth casted.

It hit the man, but didn't do too much damage.

"Oh yeah, he uses Earth. Stupid..." Seth said hitting himself.

"Kingdom Key, you showed up just in time," the man said.

"Are you G.L.A.S.S," I asked him.

"Yes. The 'A' member; Ardol," he said charging us with his hammer.

Auron blocked it and they began to fight. Auron turned to us.

"Fight!"

We got the message and ran to help him. We dodged most of his attacks but he got some lucky strikes.

"This guy..." I started.

"I know," Seth said. "But we aren't going down here."

"Yeah," I agreed. It was time for our combo attack.

"Ready?" I asked my friend.

"Yeah, Deadly Fountain," he replied.

While we got our magic ready, Auron flipped over Ardol and held him in place.

"Your defeat is part of their story," he said to the enemy.

Thanks to Auron, our water-based Limit attack hit our target and did some serious damage. Ardol flipped back and hit the wall.

"Well done you two," he said, completely drenched. "But this isn't the end."

Ardol disappeared through a dark corridor.

"Let's go," Auron said.

We all ran out of there.

((Seth))

"I'll be right back!" Anata said running toward a door.

"Where is she going," I asked.

"To the upper world is my guess," Auron said.

"So you're Auron," I asked the man who helped save me.

"Correct," he replied.

"You're not a bad fighter," I told him.

"You wouldn't expect any less from a Guardian," he replied.

Just then, Anata came back.

"Well it's time to go," she said.

"Hmm," Auron said walking away. "I hope the next time you come, you're not dead."

"Thanks Auron," Anata shouts.

"Must be his way of saying 'see you soon," I said.

"He's different but not that bad," Anata replied.

When Mystery came, we boarded and went on to the next world.

"I hope I never come back to this creepy old place," I said.


	21. Ch 21: Christmas Comes Early

"Finally! On the road," I exclaimed, lying down.

We were aboard Mystery traveling to the next world.

"How many worlds have we been to again," Anata asked me.

"I don't know, but I bet it's a lot" I replied. "Check the World Log. It keeps track of the worlds we've been to, right?"

Anata looked at then looked back at me.

"We've been to... seven worlds it looks like."

"Wow that's a lot of different places," I commented.

"I wonder how many worlds Riku and Aqua went to."

"Probably more than us."

"So how long until we get to where ever we're going?"

"It looks like forty to fifty minutes."

"That's enough time for a nap! With all the action going on, I need some sleep…"

"Okay, good night Seth," Anata said.

I yawned and stretched my arms, feeling the fatigue of a traveler. I closed my eyes and I was out in a few seconds.

((Seth's Dreamland))

Two people in black cloaks are walking down a dark alley.

"Now that you know the truth," one says to the other.

"Are you sure this is true," the other says back. "That couldn't have happened... No!"

"But it is," the first spoke. "They are to blame for your parent's death. And your friend? In on it the whole time. I mean for all you know, it could've been a giant lie to get you on their side. You didn't know them before, but I did. I know the truth. I saw the whole thing happen. They made me like this; made me harm you. All for their damned experiment..."

The man who wasn't talking grips his head with both hands and falls to his knees.

"It hurts, I know," The first continued. "I know what it's like to have dead loved ones. The only way to be rid of the grief is revenge."

The man on the ground starts screaming. While he does so, something in his pocket starts to glow. "You do know what to do, yes?"

The man on the ground calms down.

"I know now," he says.

He summoned the Keyblade known as Chaos Ripper and walks away.

The scene shifts to the man fighting three Keyblade masters.

The three clad in armor, close in on the man, one running the other two gliding. The battle goes on until the Keyblade masters are on the ground, defeated. The man takes off the helmet of one, revealing Anata's face...

I sit up suddenly, making Anata jump.

"Bad dream," Anata asked.

"Uh... kinda," I replied.

Who was that man? Not G.L.A.S.S. Man... But one thing's for sure, I better find him before he hurts Anata!

"Well, on a brighter note, we made it," Anata said positively.

This world was anything but a brighter note. It looked scary, but different then the Underworld.

"People could get some good ideas for the haunted house looking at this place," I said.

I turned to Anata and she looked... different.

"What are you wearing," I asked her.

"I could say the same to you," she replied. "Our clothes must've adapted to the world."

"Yeah," I agreed.

Anata had a short black dress with red and white patterned leggings. She also had dark yellow eyes, fangs, and a witch's hat. I looked down at my own clothes. They looked like nothing I've ever seen before. I had white gloves with claws, black shorts and jacket with a gray shirt. At my shoulders, there was gray armor connected to my jacket. My legs were the strangest; I had long socks in a red and white pattern but instead of shoes, I had werewolf feet.

I gasped in surprise, trying to open my mouth but I only could a little bit. There was a mirror close by and I saw that the ends of my mouth were sewn shut.

"Aaaaahhhh," I screamed. "My mouth! What the hell is going on?"

"Oh, hello," a voice said behind us.

"Are you here for Halloween?"

((Halloween Town))

We were face to face with a skeleton. A real. Life. Skeleton!

"Uhm... yes," Anata said, unsure.

"Well that's a shame, because we just ended our Halloween celebration," the skeleton replied.

Anata and I looked at each other with puzzled looks.

"So what do you do when it's not Halloween," I asked him.

"Why, we celebrate Christmas of course," he replied.

"Whaat? Christmas? In a place like this? Don't you think it's a little... uh... scary?"

"Oh, we don't celebrate here. C'mon! I'll show you. The name's Jack by the way."

"I'm Anata and this is Seth," Anata said as we walked with Jack.

"What are all these doors for?" I asked when we stopped.

We were in a strange dark forest with eleven doors on different trees.

"This is the gate way to Christmas joy, my friends," Jack said.

He went into a door with a Christmas tree on it. We reluctantly followed.

((Christmas Town))

We landed in snow.

The whole place smelled of candy canes and unlike Halloween Town, it lifted our spirits. I couldn't believe this was the same world!

"Well gang, whatdaya think," Jack asked us getting out a box.

"Wow... this is diff-" Anata cut herself off and looked at Jack.

"Jack what are you doing," she continued.

We saw him put on a fake long white beard.

"It's my Sandy Claws costume! Now let's go see him."

"Santa... is here," I asked.

"Seth let's find out why we're here," Anata said.

I wasn't listening.

'SANTASANTASANTASANTASANTASANTA!' I thought.

Noticing that I couldn't get past the fact that the big man in red was in this world, Anata gave up trying.

"Fine, we can see- hey!" Anata sighed as I rushed past her.

"This is gonna be a long day I can just tell..." she continued, following us.


	22. Ch 22: Trial by AxelFire

We came to a town gate.

There were Christmas decorations everywhere! In the middle there was a broken merry-go-round in front of a great factory.

"Welcome to Christmas Town everyone," Jack announced.

"Wow! This place is great," I said in awe. "Maybe this is why we're here Anata."

"Maybe," she said as we walked to the factory.

When we got inside everything was in ruin. Paintings trashed, Elves sprawled on the floor, even the Christmas tree was on fire. Jack still went in with a smile.

"Ho- Ho- whoa..." Jack said noticing the destruction.

"Jack Skellington! Jack Skellington!," An elf said, running up to us.

"There's a monster in the Toy Room!"

"Is it a Heartless," Anata asked.

"You know about the Heartless," Jack asked us.

"Yep. We've been fighting them for a while now," I explained. "Let's go check out this monster!"

"This way! This way," The elf screamed as we followed him up the stairs and into a room.

The room was on fire when we got there. In the middle, there was a figure with the same black coat the G.L.A.S.S. Man, except it was covered in blood. His right arm was nothing but blood and bone. He had sharp teeth with veins in them. His red hair was unkempt and crazy and he had a blood thirsty look in his eye. That's right. EYE!

"This... This thing," Anata started. "Is this...?"

"That is right, Kingdom Key. This is, or used to be, a good friend of your father's that I had come back to say hello," a voice said.

We looked to where the voice came from and on the other side of the room on a platform was a man dressed in red. He also had a tan hat with a creepy face on it.

"Are you G.L.A.S.S.," I asked him while Anata and I readied our Keyblades.

The man chuckled as he looked down at us with insanity.

"Yes. My name is Lucian, the 'L' member of G.L.A.S.S. Nice to meet you," Lucian said.

A sound of pure evil came from the creature's mouth.

"What have you done to Axel," Anata asked him.

"I had a friend bring him back from the dead," he started with an evil smile.

Lucian started to look around.

"He's actually around here somewhere... Oh well," he said, giving up on finding his partner.

"I asked for him to give Christmas a real trick for you and a treat for me. That's Trick-or-Treating right, Pumpkin King?"

A dark portal erupted from where Lucian sat, which took the man elsewhere.

"Well, the mission is clear, stop this Axel fellow," Jack said.

It was easier said than done.

Zombie Axel was so fast! His flames were so intense, that Blizzard did nothing! Anata shot a light bullet at the beast, knocking him over. He got up as fast as he went down.

"I think that only made him angry," I commented.

"I'll fight Fire with Fire," Jack said as his head and hands burst into flame.

Our friend rammed right into Zombie Axel and the whole room lit up. Smoke seeped throughout the room and when I could see again, everyone was on the ground but me. Anata was getting up so I ran to her.

"Anata! Are you okay," I asked.

"Kinda..." she replied. "Where's Jack and Axel?"

I pointed to them, then we ran to Jack. When we got there, Zombie Axel got up and attacked us.

"Get Jack to a safe place, I got this," I said readying my Keyblade.

"Are you sure," she asked me.

"Don't worry. Jack's fire weakened him. I should be fine."

"Okay," Anata said as she drug Jack across the floor.

"Well, No. VIII, looks like it's just you and me."

The monster roared in response.

He charged at me and I knocked him aside, but he got back up. Zombie Axel ran at me again but this time, he blocked my attack. I kicked him in the stomach, making him stumble backwards and I cut at him a few times. When he recovered, flaming pillars appeared around him and he charged. I launched a Strike Raid at him, but it was no use.

"Fine if ya wanna play like that, so can I," I said.

I shot Fire behind me, which launched me towards my opponent. I stuck my Keyblade in the ground, making a giant line on the floor to slow me down. Zombie Axel screeched as we got closer. He lunged towards me but at the last second, I brought my Keyblade out of the ground and did an uppercut. That was Axel's uppercut of an afterlifetime. He flew to the wall, defeated.

"That was soo cool," I announced. "I'll call it... Uppercut of an Afterlifetime, just for you."

I walked towards my opponent to make sure I beat him. When I got to him, Axel changed back to his original Nobody self.

"Where... am I... Where... are my... friends," he asked fading away.

"They all died at The Keyblade Graveyard. All except Riku. No one except Aqua survived at Radiant Gardens as well."

"That Keyblade... you can't be... Terra...?"

"No. I am Seth, Riku's student and Keyblade Master. Anata is also with me and she has the Kingdom Key."

Axel looked at the ceiling and smiled; "If you could defeat me in such a state... Then there might be a good future for us after all... Tell Anata I said 'hey.'"

"You got it. It was nice talking to ya Axel," I said to him.

"Same for you," he said.

His gaze left me and turned to the ceiling.

"Hehehe... I can't believe I'm going for the third time," Axel said as he finally disappeared into nothingness.

"Seth," Anata called.

I looked behind me and I saw Anata, Jack and a little, plump man in red with a white beard.

"Jack," the man shouted. "WHAT IS THE MEANING FOR ALL OF THIS?!"

"Wait... plump, red, white beard..." I gasped in surprise when I realized who this man was.

"Santa," I shouted as I tackled him.

"Seth this isn't the time, get off of me," Santa said.

"Sorry, Mr. Claus," I said.

"It's quite alright. Why don't we go to my office and we all can talk about this."

As we walked down the hall, I saw a kid slightly older than me with blonde hair go into a dark corridor.

'Don't worry, he's gone,' I told myself.

We explained everything to Santa about Zombie Axel, G.L.A.S.S. and what happened to Sora.

"Well, these G.L.A.S.S. folk aren't gonna be on my Nice List," Santa shouted.

"You can say that again," Anata said.

"Don't worry about the mess; I'll have the elves take care of it. We don't need the Toy Room at the moment, we already made the toys."

"Thank you, Sandy," Jack said.

"Well Seth, let's get going," Anata said

"Ah, but Anata," Santa started. "It's almost Christmas! Why don't you stay until after the celebrations?"

"Yeah guys, you would make great elves," Jack agreed.

"Why not," I asked. "After what we've been doing, we deserve a little fun."

"Oh alright," she said. "We'll stay for a little bit."

"Yay," Jack and I said, hugging her.


	23. Ch 23: Merry Christmas

I woke up the next day in Jack's house.

I stretched and yawned, as I usually do when I wake up. I pulled myself out of bed, noticing that I was back to looking like a werewolf-thing. I got out of my room, being attracted to a sweet aroma. Down the hall, I saw Jack and Anata having waffles.

"Waffles," I gasped, grabbing a plate and a giant pile of waffles.

"Wow, he eats a lot doesn't he," Jack said as I inhaled the sweet breakfasty goodness that was waffles.

"He goes through two days of food in one on the train," Anata explained. "And I told you not to make waffles!"

"Whoopsie," Jack said. "Well, as soon as you're done, go to Christmas Town! Sandy Claws wants to speak with us."

"Okay, see ya," Anata said as Jack left.

Anata looked over at my now empty plate with a shocked look.

"Didn't you have a giant stack of waffles?"

"That was two minutes ago Anata," I replied. "You seriously need to get with the times."

I stood up and walked to the door.

"Now we go to Christmas Town," I said walking out.

'Sometimes I forget why I love him...' Anata thought.

When we got to Santa's place, we found some Heartless outside.

"Well it's been sometime since we've seen these guys, hasn't it," I said.

"Get ready," Anata shouted.

We charged and slashed Heartless left and right. When they all left, one slightly bigger than normal showed up.

"I got this," I shouted, charging it.

"Seth, what are you doing," Anata shouted.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime," I shouted, destroying the Heartless with my newest attack.

"Wow," Anata said.

"You have your light attacks and I got my uppercut."

After that, we walked into the factory.

"SAANTAAAA! You wanted to see us," I said as we walked in.

The old man was standing next to his taller counterpart; Jack. They looked like they were in a Santa-look-alike contest.

"Ah yes," he started. "You see we need some help with the Heartless around here. We can't have them ruining Christmas like Lucian almost did after all."

"Aye aye Captain," I replied, saluting.

"Are they outside like the ones before," Anata asked.

"Some are, and some are inside," Santa said.

"I'll get inside," Jack said. "Why don't you guys get out there?"

"Fine by me, let's go Anata," I said as we walked out the door.

As soon as we walked outside, Heartless appeared.

"Ready to hold down the fort," Anata asked.

"Hells yeah," I said slashing one.

I charged with a Barrier Surge, knocking several of them over. Anata slashed with a fury of light attacks, destroying tons of Heartless.

"Thunder," I shouted.

A super strong lightning blast came out of the sky knocking me over. Fortunately, it took Heartless with it so I didn't look like a total dumbass.

"Whaa...?" I was surprised.

"That's Thundara," Anata said.

"Oh okay, Thundara," I shouted.

The spell sent me forward and I grazed the ground with my Keyblade as I soared.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime!"

I finished my uppercut attack which finished many Heartless at the same time. Another hour or so later two more waves of black creatures were eliminated.

We both panted with fatigue.

"Ya think that's it," I asked Anata.

"Yeah, it should be. Let's head back in."

Just then Jack ran out of the factory.

"Guys we need help in there! Giant Heartless attacking Sandy!"

"And on our day off," I said as we rushed in.

We bust through the door to find a giant Heartless. It had its bladed hand held to the jolly man's throat.

"Get away from Sandy," Jack shouted.

The Heartless jumped out the window.

"Let's go guys," I shouted as we followed it.

_**(find heartless name)**_

"Fira," Anata shouted.

Our foe staggered when the fireball hit it.

"It seems like that did a lot," I commented.

Jack ignited himself again and charged at it. It dodged and kicked him back into the snow.

"Jack," I shouted.

"Sonic Blade," I said charging at the enemy.

After my attack was done, it jumped up in the air and aimed it's blades to the ground.

"Ready," I asked Anata.

"Mmhmm."

"BiaThundara," we shouted.

A giant green bolt of lightning shot down and hit the Heartless, destroying it and sending green sparks throughout the sky.

"Wow..." Anata said. "It's beautiful."

"Yeah," I agreed.

Jack sat up spitting snow out of his mouth.

"Let's go check on Sandy Claws."

"Okay," we replied.

When we got to his office, Santa was at his desk talking to an elf.

"How is everything," Anata asked.

"Well, the elves just informed me that lots of damage was done to the factory," Santa said. "But it can be a project for them to do."

"I'm sure people from Halloween Town can come and help as well," Jack offered.

"That's very thoughtful Jack," Santa started. "And for your actions today, I'm going to let you deliver the presents this year."

Jack had a giant grin on his face.

"Will you Sandy? Oh thank you, thank you," Jack said running to the reindeer.

"Well friends, I'm off," Jack continued. "I think you should stay around and watch me leave, they say watching Sandy Claws's sleigh ride off will give you answers you need."

"Sounds good Jack, thanks."

Anata and I sat on a hill and looked up at the sky.

"This is nice," Anata said.

"Yeah. I wonder what we're gonna see," I replied.

Just then Jack flew the sleigh across the sky.

"HO HO HO! Have a very scary Christmas everyone," Jack shouted.

"Well, he's close enough," Anata commented.

Suddenly, golden sparkles fell through the sky. This was familiar.

"Hey this is just like our Bia-" I paused for a strange reason.

I thought of Anata. I thought of our trip to Agrabah, how long we've traveled together, all the Heartless we've faced, and especially the kiss at Traverse Town. It all made me realize... that Anata was hinting that she liked me... and I kinda also like her. I was overwhelmed with emotion. It was a little strange; I never felt this before... is this... love? I turned to Anata, and she looked at me. I looked deep into her eyes and felt at home instantly. I got closer to her and then...


	24. Ch 24: Anata's Unknown Family

Well, it's official... Anata and I are a couple! It's gonna be weird at first and with Heartless and other worlds, we might not have time for couple stuff, but we'll work it out. Anata summoned Mystery and we waved goodbye to everyone, minus Jack, and set off for our next destination.

((Mystery))

"Guess what's special about today," I said to Anata.

"What's that," she asked.

"Today is my fifteenth birthday!"

Anata smiled. "Happy Birthday," she said, kissing me on the check.

"Thanks."

We opened a visual link with Mickey and Max. We told them what happened at Christmas Town. Yes. EVERYTHING!

"So we met all of G.L.A.S.S, and know their abilities somewhat, so we should be able to defeat them right," I asked our friend.

"Sounds about right," Mickey replied. "And from the stuff you told me about the messenger... It sounds like he has the same property and entity as Xemnas. So the place ya wanna head now is The Old Mansion in Twilight Town."

"Thanks Mickey," Anata said.

"Gosh I'd like to help out more but..."

"It's okay. Trust me."

"Okay. Good luck you guys," Mickey said as the link closed.

"Going back to Twilight Town, huh," I said. "Who knew the place we pretty much started will be where it all ends."

"Yeah kinda strange, huh," Anata agreed.

"How much longer 'till we're there?"

"Maybe an hour."

"Time for a power nap!"

"It's always sleeping and eating with you isn't it?"

"No!... Yeah... I guess so."

We cuddled up in a chair and went to sleep.

*CRASSHHHH!*

The train was bouncing like crazy!

"What's happening," Anata asked.

I looked out the window and I saw a huge ship with a strange symbol on it. The symbol sort of resembled the Heartless symbol, ya know, if you turned it upside-down, made it white, and put a cross under the heart instead of a flor de lis.

"A ship," I asked.

What is the driver, crazy? It smashed into us again and Mystery fell to the world under us.

((Twilight Town))

*CRRRAASSSHHH!*

"Ooowwww..." I moaned, getting up.

What I saw in front of me were three scared kids around my age, two boys and one girl, staring at me like I was a space monster.

"Where am I," I asked them.

"You're in our hangout," one of them said. "I'm Pence. This is Hayner and Olette."

"Hey," Olette greeted.

"Hiya," Hayner said.

"My name is Seth, and this is Anata," I said pointing to nothing.

They looked where I was pointing and looked at me crazy again.

"Uhm there's no one there, Seth," Olette said.

"Huh," I said looking over.

Sure enough, she was right. Anata was missing.

"What," I exclaimed jumping up. "Where is she?"

"You must've gotten hit pretty hard," Pence commented. "Who's this Anata anyway?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"Oooohhhh," Hayner said.

"Hayner! Don't antagonize him," Olette scolded.

"We came here looking for a door to a secret place by 'the old mansion,'" I explained. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Oh, we know that place," Pence said. "Do you have something called a Keyblade, by chance?"

I summoned my Ends of the Earth.

"Yeah why," I asked.

"Aha! You're just like Sora," Pence exclaimed.

"Let's take him there," Hayner said as we walked out.

((Anata))

I fell crashing through trees and ended up in a forest.

"Owww... Good thing the trees broke my fall," I said.

I got up and looked around for Seth to see if he was alright. Problem was, he was nowhere to be found.

"Seth," I called. "Seth? Seth! Where are you? This isn't funny!"

I called some more.

"Oh well," I said. "I guess I gotta look for him again."

I walked a little bit ahead and saw some Shadows. I held my Keyblade like a bow, and pulled a string of light back to my right cheek. When enough light was gathered to make an arrow, I shot it at the Heartless, the arrow forming into several projectiles.

"Light Arrow," I shouted, shooting most of the Shadows.

Some got some lucky hits on me, but I dodged most of them. I hacked away until they all turned to darkness and kept walking. I ended up in a grassy area in front of a giant mansion.

"This must be the mansion Mickey was talking about," I commented.

"Well, time to check it out."

I unlocked the gate and ran inside. The place was all dusty. I walked up the stairs and when I got to the top, I came to a hallway and went into the second door on the right to find a plain white room. It's the type of room I wouldn't have expected to see in a place like this! There were pictures all over the wall and at the head of a table, sat a girl around my age with blonde hair and a white dress drawing a picture. The picture was of Riku and Aqua training Seth and I. Who is this girl?

"How are you drawing that," I asked." "You weren't there."

The girl looked up from her drawing and picked up two pieces of paper. One of them was of when we met King Mickey and the other one was of Seth kissing me at Christmas Town. I looked on the table and I saw a picture of me and the girl, talking in the exact positions we were in now. My jaw dropped with amazement.

"W-Who are you," I asked her.

"Well Anata, in a way..." she stopped.

I motioned her to keep going and what she said really surprised me.

"In a way, I'm your mother."

"What? No, there's no way that your'e my mom," I stated, freaking out. "First off, you're my age! Second, she's dead. Third, you CAN'T be my mother!"

"You're right that I'm not Kairi, or not completely anyway," the girl said. "I'm Namine, Kairi's Nobody."

"Ohh... Then how do you know all the stuff that's happened to me?"

Namine smiled and closed her eyes as she let out a giggle.

"A mother must keep tabs on her daughter, right," Namine started. "But seriously, I can control and see Sora's memories. And since you are his child, I can do the same for you as well. The fact that Kairi's your mom makes it impossible to ignore them. I've drawn everything you've done so far."

"Wow... So if mom's your Somebody... is she inside you, Making you draw these," I asked.

"No, no. It's impossible to ignore because I see you as my child also. It's a self control thing."

"So much for self control Mom," I said to Namine.

She smiled at this.

"I'm flattered Anata, but please, call me Namine."

"Okay Namine. If Seth was here, he'd have me call you Mom-i-nae!"

"That... is just horrible."

"Yeah... he's pretty corny, but someone's gotta take care of him and that's me," I said. "Speaking of him, do you know where he is?"

"He's coming to the mansion, looking for you."

"Would you know a way to get to a world from here," I asked. "A world of Nothingness?

"You ask a lot of questions," she replied.

"You're supposed to help your kid, aren't you?"

"Fair enough. In the basement of the mansion, there is a computer system," she explained. "Activate the computer, and it can beam you there."

"Thanks Namine," I said, hugging her.

"No problem, hun," she said as I made my way to the basement.

I walked through the door and went to the room adjacent to Namine's.

I saw a library with a blue set of stairs going down.

"I wonder if this is it," I said sarcastically. I went down the stairs and saw Seth battling some strange creatures.

"Light Arrow," I shouted, killing them.

"Thanks Anata," Seth said hugging me.

"Those things weren't Heartless I can tell you that right now," he continued. "They bared the same symbol on the ship that hit Mystery."

"Those are called Nobodies. We fought one remember? Axel?"

"Oh yeah! There must be more of those evil things around here."

"Nobodies aren't all bad. In a way I saw my mother again because of one."

Seth's jaw dropped in confusion.


	25. Ch 25: The Purpose of GLASS

((Seth))

"Wait what," I asked.

Her mom is dead, how can that happen?

"I met Namine, Mom's Nobody and she said you were down here."

"Oh okay," I didn't really understand it but I could tell by her eyes she didn't wanna talk about it.

"So it's this computer, right," I asked.

"Yeah, try turning it on."

I flipped the switch and all the monitors lit up.

"Ah, it requires a password!"

"Is there a hint?"

"Yeah. What was Ansem the Wise's favorite food," I said. "Who is this Ansem the Wise? Damn if I just had some Sea Salt Ice Cream right now... it makes me think tons better."

Anata's face lit up.

"Try that," she said with excitement.

"Try what?"

"Sea Salt Ice Cream! It fits doesn't it?"

I typed it in and sure enough, password accepted.

"Nice," I exclaimed. "Now just press this button..."

When I pressed the button, a door appeared right next to the computer. The door had a lock in the middle of each side.

"Two locks," Anata said. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I replied.

We summoned our Keyblades and aimed Lightlasers at the locks; Anata on the left and I on the right. We walked through the door not knowing what to expect.

((The World That Never Was))

We walked through the door to find ourselves in a dark alley.

The atmosphere was overwhelming.

"This place reminds me of G.L.A.S.S. Man," I said.

"Yeah same here," Anata added. "It feels like there's a stronger presence here than anywhere else we've been to. Let's be on our guard."

She started walking forward, and I followed.

After taking some turns, we ended up by a great skyscraper.

"Wow, look at this thing," I said looking up at it. "It must go up for miles."

"Look later, we got company," Anata said.

I looked over and saw a vast amount of Neoshadows.

"Heartless," I shouted. "Let's get rid of them in one blow!"

We summoned our Keyblades and pointed them to the sky. A giant green lightning bolt fell out of the sky and struck the Neoshadows with destructive force.

"BiaThundaga," we shouted.

Like I predicted, our Limit Spell got rid of all the enemies. I decided to hold onto my blade just in case any more decided to pop up.

"Let's keep going," I said.

We kept walking until we reached a dead end.

"Damn a dead end..." I said, throwing my Keyblade on the ground.

"What do we do," Anata asked.

"You unlock it of course," said a voice beside us.

We turn to see a blonde kid slightly older then us with dark clothing. Anata readied her Keyblade.

"Who are you," I asked.

"You forgot? Can't say I'm surprised..." he said. "My name is Derak, don't forget this time. Just unlock a path, Ends of the Earth. You know, what the REAL hero did last time."

"Are you suggesting we aren't heroes," Anata asked him.

"No. Just not half the hero your old man was," he said jumping into a Dark Corridor.

"Well, that's an idea," I said pointing my Keyblade to the other cliff.

A bridge appeared and we raced across it. We were then in front of a castle.

"Wow… I thought the skyscraper was big," I said.

"My guess is G.L.A.S.S. set themselves up in there," Anata said.

"Only one way to find out," I said as we went inside.

Once we got inside, we had a couple more flights of stairs to go. I could feel it.

((Inside the Castle: G.L.A.S.S. Meeting))

"Did you lure them here, Derak," G.L.A.S.S. Man asked.

"They are coming," Derak replied.

"What should we do now," Ardol asked.

"I think we should eliminate them where they stand," Sabastian suggested.

"Not a chance," Lucian commented. "They obviously surpassed their teachers, so we are dead if we confront them."

"Let's send in Derak," Synda said. "It'd be nice to be a member short."

"You're funny," Derak said. "What if all of you attack them? Possibly split them up and defeat them both without the help of the other. Three for Seth and two for Anata. The data gathered shows that Seth is the stronger one."

"That sounds good," Gaira said. "Ever since they ruined my plans, I've wanted to show them a piece of my mind!"

"I'll battle Seth. He owes me a true encounter," Ardol said.

"I'll be with you," Gaira said.

"I got Anata," Lucian stated. "Synda, you should come with me."

"Sounds good. Sabastain, looks like you're battling Seth," Synda said.

"Yeah," Sabastian replied, as they all headed for the door.

"I don't think so," G.L.A.S.S. Man said. "I have a better plan."

"Screw you Caractus," Sabastian said. "We got this figured out. Let's go!"

G.L.A.S.S. Man, or Caractus, stood from his chair; "No. You all will follow ME!"

Silence filled the room.

((Seth))

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"What was that," I asked as we rounded the corner.

"It came from that way, let's go," Anata said as we followed the blood curdling screams.

We walked in to find G.L.A.S.S.'s meeting place. What we saw was mortifying. All the G.L.A.S.S. members we knew were now lifeless corpses on the ground. Gaira, Lucian, Ardol, Synda and Sabastian were all dead.

"How the..." I started.

"Welcome, Keyblade Masters," we heard a voice say.

We looked up and saw G.L.A.S.S. man, coat stained in blood. He removed his hood and said;

"I don't think we've been introduced properly. My name is Caractus, the leader of G.L.A.S.S. It's been some time hasn't it? Seth? Anata?"

"What did you do to them," Anata asked.

"Why bother explaining," Caractus replied. "You wouldn't understand anyway."

Caractus stood at least at six and a half feet tall. He had long reddish-brown hair and tan skin.

"Your ears... You gave into darkness, didn't you," Anata asked.

I looked at them and they came to a point at the top. I also noticed that his eyes were a gold color; which was not natural.

"In the end, darkness is all we have, isn't it," he asked. "But I found a better substitute long ago: Nothingness. After I found the new entity, I made a plan to resurrect Kingdom Hearts."

"Kingdom what," I asked.

"Kingdom Hearts is a force of unknown power," Anata filled me in.

"Right. So that's when I came across these five," Caractus continued. "They were souls that had great lives, but lost it all. I gave them a new life with me, and an elemental power. I didn't need them anymore, so I simply... took back my gifts the only way I knew how. Such a pity... They have less than they came to me with now."

"You used innocent people," I asked, disgusted.

"Just pawns in my plan of absolute power," Caractus said. "But you see, you two are in my way and I just can't have that."

Caractus pulled out his spear and we readied our Keybaldes.

"Ends of the Earth. Kingdom Key. I shall send you to meet the ones you succeeded!"


	26. Ch 26: Battle of Nothing

We charged at him, but he jumped above us.

He landed on a platform and pointed his spear at us.

"What's he doing," I asked.

Just then, a blue ethereal laser shot out of the spear. It missed but just by a little.

"Oh, I see," Anata said, holding her Keyblade by the shaft, like a bow.

"Run like crazy."

"You got it," I replied, taking off.

"Heeeeyy," I shouted. "YOU SUCK! AND YOUR PLAN IS WORSE! KINGDOM HEARTS WOULD NEVER OPEN ITS DOORS TO SOMEONE AS STUPID AS YOU!"

Caractus turned his attention to me and rapid fired the blasts at me while I just keep running, trying to dodge.

"That must've pissed him off and then some," I commented, almost getting hit.

I looked up at Caractus and saw a little arrow coming out of his arm. I look over to Anata and she looked like she just shot a Light Arrow.

"I get it now," I shouted, happily.

"Hmm," Caractus grunted, teleporting down to us.

His spear would glow with the same blue light and he starts slashing at us.

"Be gone," he shouts.

We tried to dodge his attacks, but it was no use. We jumped back and quickly tried our Deadly Fountain to douse him. The blast of water did some damage, but not enough to have done anything major.

"You think a little water will stop me," he asked taunting us.

"BiaThundaga," we shout again. Our enemy was flipped back a couple feet by our green lightning bolt.

Caractus gots up to see Anata, ready to shoot him again, but with me nowhere to be found. I suddenly appear behind him and whisper;

"I'm not the kid you met in Radiant Gardens."

The man tried to turn to me but it was too late. I slashed him with my Keyblade, glowing with a dark aura, hitting him against the far wall.

"Hehehe..." Caractus mutters.

Apparently, he thinks it's funny when he gets beaten by teenagers.

"What's so funny," I asked. "You like getting beaten to the wall?"

"No. It's not that. Do you know what you just used? That's the power of Darkness, no mistaking it," Caractus shouted. "Just let it consume you... and what you dream can become reality!"

He picked up his spear and rushed at us. Anata jumped and I ducked. Both our Keys glowing in light and dark respectively, we slash him at the same time. Needless to say, the man ended up kissing the wall again.

"That is called Sun and Moon," I announced.

"You come up with attack names pretty fast," Anata said.

"I just think of the first thing that comes to my-" I paused when I noticed that our opponent was nowhere to be found. Something was off to me.

"Where'd Caractus go?"

"Huh," Anata said looking over.

_"Guess where I'm hiding,"_ A voice echoed.

There was no way to find out where he was from the sound because of the acoustics of the place.

"Probably to the deepest point of the castle," Anata said. "That way."

She pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room.

_"Simple enough yes? Well now comes the hard part,"_ Caractus shouts again.

Suddenly the walls became black with Darkness. Shadows and Neoshadows pop out of the spaces.

"Well, we ain't done yet," I said as we charged the hoard of dark creatures.

We fight off hoard after hoard but they kept coming.

"I don't think we are gonna see the end of this," Anata said, bashing some Heartless.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime," I shouted, sending countless Heartless into the air with my favorite technique.

Anata shot them all with Light Arrows, while I covered her.

"BIATHUNDAGA!"

The gigantic green lightning bolt got rid of more than half the Heartless. After a while, the room is void of Heartless. We collapsed on the floor. Seconds later, more Neoshadows pop up.

"I don't have the energy..." I say looking at the enemies.

Anata chuckled.

"Huh," I asked.

"D'you think this is how my parents died," she asked with hopelessness in her voice.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the end. A Neoshadow jumps at me and I try to shield myself from the blow.

'This is it,' I thought. 'We are coming. Riku, Aqua...'

After a while I notice I'm not dead. I open my eyes, and I see Derak fending off the Heartless with his own Keyblade. The Key was colorless, with a gear-like handguard and teeth. On opposite sides of the blade, eyes would be present. The blade had chains in the middle, inter-twining around it.

"Get out of here," he shouts.

A Keyblade?

"How did you-"

"None of your concern just get out," Derak yelled, cutting me off. "You wanna defeat Caractus, don't you?"

He's right. At that note, I scoop up Anata and run as fast as I could outta there. We came to an elevator and I put my girlfriend down. I sit next to her.

"I wonder what made Derak help us..." I say to the semi-comatose Anata.

"No matter, we are safe now."


	27. Ch 27: Battle for Light

"Anata! Anata! ANATAA!"

I have been shouting her name for hours, or at least it felt that way. In reality it was probably ten minutes, but when someone you love is unresponsive time seems to slow down.

Finally, she opened her eyes.

"Wha..." she moaned.

"Oh thank God..." I said, leaning against the wall.

"What happened," she asked. "

"Neoshadows. Lots of them. Caractus's doing. Derak saved us. Now we finish that evil bastard," I explained.

"Well that was straight forward," Anata said.

The elevator stopped to let us off.

"Let's go," I said as we walked out.

We came into a room with two staircases leading up to a different room. We climbed the stairs and stopped at the top.

"You're not gonna go all fainty on me again, are ya," I ask Anata.

"Heh, don't bet on it," she replied.

We stood there for a little longer, mentally preparing ourselves.

'This is our final battle. Whoever comes out on top chooses if we all live or die,' I thought.

"You ready," Anata asked me.

I nodded.

"Let's finish this," I said as we walked into the room.

We walked in to see Caractus floating in the air.

"So, you've come this far," Caractus observed. "I think I might've underestimated your strengths. But I assure you it won't happen again."

The man waved his arms in the air to reveal five glowing orbs floating next to him. One by one, the orbs transform into different weapons; a shield, a staff, a warhammer, two fans, and a short sword. These looked familiar to us.

"Those are-" I started.

Anata finished my thought; "G.L.A.S.S's weapons!"

We summoned our Keyblades.

"No..." Caractus starts. "No, no, no, no... THEY ARE MINE!"

The evil figure and the five weapons all come together, creating a dark orb around them. When it cleared, all there was left was Caractus, but a little different. His cloak had white and black patterns and his hair was a gray color. He opened his eyes and they were solid black.

"So..." Caractus said examining his new form. "The legends were true..."

"What are you babbling about now," I shouted.

"The ultimate power of Nothingness..." he started explaining. "Go to the Realm of Nothingness... Gather the five special release elements... be witnessed by Keyblade Masters... and you shall become the greatest weapon of all!"

He started laughing maniacally as his heart was taken over by the power he gained.

"I have successfully trans-mutated myself to the appearance of Xemnas the Superior of the In-Between! The founder of Organization XIII and powerhouse of the Nothing! But since I am Xemnas, a Nobody, and still have my soul, that must mean I am a Sombody. But you see, I am not Caractus anymore, and neither am I Xemnas. I am... Xemnactus; Nothings Dark Side, and soon, Ruler of Kingdom Hearts!"

"Get ready," I hear Anata say.

I heaved my Ends of the Earth into battle position. I looked down at the blade that got me this far.

'Help me in this battle, Terra,' I thought. 'Please!'

Caractus, or Xemnactus, had two blue ethereal blades and was charging at us.

I jumped to the right, and Anata to the left but it was actually a trap. Xemnactus shot a Nothingness Spiral at me, shooting me up in the air.

"Aaahhh," I screamed.

I hit the ground with a loud thud. I heard footsteps running towards me, but they were too light to be the enemy's.

"Seth, are you okay," Anata asked.

Just then, the enemy shows up behind her.

"Anata, look out," I yell as Xemnactus slashes her.

She blocked just in time and retaliated quickly with her infamous light attacks. They affected Xemnactus badly as he stumbles backwards. I jump up and run towards our enemy.

I shot a Firaga spell behind me to launch myself towards Xemnactus. I dug my Keyblade into the ground to slow my speed. I slashed up at the enemy with great force, only to miss completely.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime," I yelled in vain.

The enemy jumped back, but ran into a flurry of Light Arrows from Anata.

"You two... remind me of Keyblade Heroes I once knew..." Xemnactus stated.

We both rushed to attack but he jumped up. As soon as we looked up to him, we were shot up with Spirals.

"Try to dodge," I shouted at Anata.

She nodded. We spun around the spirals while gaining altitude. Our dodging strategy was perfect, which made the man of Nothingness angry. When Anata and I hit the ground, Xemnactus was still in the air. We jumped up, my Keyblade in darkness, Anata's in light, ready for our newest combo attack.

"Sun and Moon," we shouted as we slashed him.

All of us landed on the ground and continued to fight. Ethereal blades and Keyblades were hurled everywhere until finally, Xemnactus flew back.

"You will not live from this..." he said as he disappeared.

A giant black orb surrounded us and blue lasers launched from the sides of the orb at us with great speed.

"This looks fun," I exclaimed.

"How is this fun," Anata wondered as we protected ourselves from the attack.

After some minutes of this, the orb finally went away. We looked around and Xemnactus was nowhere to be found.

"Did we get him," Anata asked walking passed me.

I was about to follow but then I saw our enemy rushing at Anata while she didn't even notice. There was no time to think. I rushed in between both of them and got stabbed.

"Ooowww..." I moaned as I hit the ground.

"Seth, no," Anata shouted, noticing what happened.

She picked up my Keyblade and with the two in hand, rushed at Xemnactus. She hit him a couple times, hacking away like no tomorrow. Then when she was done, she ran over to me.

"Seth," she shouted, holding out my blade.

"Right," I said, touching the hilt.

Immediately, light shot out of it and hit Xemnactus in the air, defeating him.

"How did this happen..." he said, fading away. "I am the supreme ruler... the ruler of Kingdom Hearts..."

"You're wrong," I said. "Kingdom Hearts is not for someone like you. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure it means light, and as a heart, the rulers of Kingdom Hearts... Must be us Keyblade Masters!"

I stood up to finish my speech for dramatic effect.

"Myself, Anata, King Mickey, Ashe, even Aqua and Riku, are all the rulers and protectors of Kingdom Hearts!"

"I will find a way back..." Xemnactus said as the last of him faded away. "Just know that, Ends of the Earth..."

"We did it," Anata said, squeezing me.

"Anata! Too much! Too much," I said, barely breathing.

When she let go, it all went black.

((Mystery))

I awoke with Anata sitting in the chair across from me.

"Hiya..." I mumbled, getting up. "Did we get'em?"

"Yeah. You collapsed after," Anata said, filling me in.

"Must've been one hell of a fight," I said holding my aching head.

"Seth I don't think it's a good idea for you to do use the Darkness. You saw Caractus, it swallows people up. It even happened to Uncle Riku."

"Anata, I'm fine, really."

"How come you collapsed then?"

"Probably that hit I took or the fact that you constricted me at the end," I said jokingly. "Besides, if I learned anything from Master Riku, it's that as long as you keep your head in the light, no darkness can take you."


	28. Ch28: My Glider Master Yen Sid's Test

((Traverse Town))

We arrived at Traverse Town to tell Mickey what happened at The World That Never Was.

We went into the Accessory Shop but the only one there was Kupo.

"Hey, Kupo," Kupo said. "What brings you back, Kupo?"

"Hey there, Kupo." I greeted. "We just came back to find King Mickey, you see him?"

"He's over at the newly built Refugee House, Kupo! Just go to the Thrid District and it's on your left, Kupo."

"Thanks Kupo. C'mon Anata," I said as we walked outta there.

We decided to climb the ladder into the Synthesis Workshop and go out of that door so it was a straight-shot to the Second District. We were surprised to find the whole bottom part of the floor was gone!

"What's happening," Anata asked.

We looked closer and saw countless beady yellow eyes.

"The Heartless? This many," I gasped.

While we were in shock, one of them jumped at us and I killed it instantly.

"To the Refugee House," Anata said as we made our way to the Third District.

We bust through the door of the Refugee House and scared the crap out of everyone.

"Mickey," We shouted.

"Huh? Oh! It's you guys," The King said walking towards us. "How did everything go?"

"No time for that we have a serious problem," Anata said.

"What is it?"

"Heartless everywhere in the Second District," I said.

Just then we heard a little boy's voice.

"What's happening, is something wrong," he asked.

The boy had short black hair and looked about six years old. There was something about him that seemed so familiar...

"Honey, get back here," we heard a woman say.

"But mommy," he whined. "I wanna find out what these 'heart less' are!"

I knelt down to the kid.

"Don't worry everything's fine. Now can you please go back to your mother?"

The boy smiled and nodded. He walked back to his mom.

"Sorry about him," The woman said sincerely.

"Not a problem," I said smiling.

"Mickey, do you know why so many Heartless are out there," Anata asked.

"I think I have something..." he replied. "But to make sure, I have to know what happened at The World That Never Was."

We told him everything about G.L.A.S.S. and how we defeated Xemnactus and something seemed to click.

"I think my theory is true, but I gotta make sure with someone," Mickey said.

"Let's go," Anata said. "I can summon Mystery and we'll all go together. What's refugees to Max, right?"

"Yeah I got everything here, Your Majesty," Max assured.

"Alrighty then, let's go," Mickey said as we walked out of the Refugee House. Anata summoned Mystery and we were on our way.

((Mysterious Tower))

"Well, this is ironic," I said. "We summon Mystery to go back home."

When we got inside we looked up at the stairs already felt tired.

"Can't you just get a magical elevator since you were his student and all," I asked Mickey.

The little mouse shook his head and started the long climb up.

"Meeeeeeehh..." I groaned.

Hours later (or at least it felt like it), we finally reached Master Yen Sid's room.

"Ah, well if it isn't Seth, Anata, and King Mickey," The master said. "What brings you to my castle?"

"Yen Sid, we have a problem," Mickey said.

"I think I know what it is about. I sensed a giant darkness force swallowing Traverse Town."

"It has to do with that yes," I said.

We told him all about what happened in The World That Never Was and the huge-ass Heartless pit.

"Now I have a theory about all this but I wanted to run it passed ya," Mickey explained.

"The World That Never Was, was G.L.A.S.S.'s hideout up 'till now. They could control Darkness and Nohtingness and also the fact it's in the Realm of Nothingness, means the Heartless would be kept there by that Caractus fella and they wouldn't have a problem with it. Now you remember how Sora and the others destroyed most of the Heartless in the Realm of Light? Well the combination of Darkness, Nothingness and Light that has been going on for fifteen years must've disturbed the Heartless's system and eventually they stopped being summoned from the Realm of Darkness. Now why they've all went to Traverse Town..." Mickey paused to think a bit more. "Gosh, I just don't know..."

"I've been thinking the same thing, Mickey," Master Yen Sid said. "And I believe the reason they all went to Traverse Town is it was the world with the most Keyblade Masters, since those two were headed there."

"That makes sense," Anata said. "So if we destroy all the Heartless in Traverse Town, would they be gone forever?"

"If the theory proves correct, I suppose," Master Yen Sid replied.

Anata started to weep. I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong," I asked.

"It'll finally be over," she said turning to me.

"We won't have to fight anything for the rest of our lives, my father's legacy will be fulfilled, and we can be normal people again!"

"Yeah I guess so," I said.

I chuckled with a warm smile, just thinking about being normal again. It didn't last too long because I've been fighting Heartless for so long I don't remember what normal is was so hyped up, that she collapsed and passed out. I caught her just in time.

"Uhm, I think we should head back," I suggested. "Come on Mickey."

"Wait Seth," Master Yen Sid said.

"Hmm?"

"Do you know how to summon your Keyblade Glider?"

"Keyblade what?"

"That's what I thought... Mickey you may leave, Seth stay here."

I turned to Mickey.

"Here, take Anata."

Mickey held out his arms to take her, but Master Yen Sid intervened.

"Actually, that will be your test," Master Yen Sid said.

"Ya gotta listen to him, Seth," Mickey said as he walked to the door.

"What do I do," I asked.

"I shall teach you one final lesson," Master Yen Sid said standing up.

"What do I gotta do," I asked.

"Simple," he started. "I shall show you how to summon a Glider, and you shall use it to send you and Anata on your way."

"But Mickey..."

"He's going to be fine."

"If you say so."

"Give me your Key."

I summoned my Keyblade and when it went to my hand, it went directly to the master when he held out his.

"How the-"

"Watch this," Master Yen Sid.

He threw the Key behind his head out the window behind him. It came back as a speeder looking vehicle.

"Wow..." I said in awe.

"Now you." Master Yen Sid said as it disappeared, leaving the weapon sitting on the ground. I picked it up and turned to the wizard.

"Any advice?"

"Just picture the speeder and throw the Keyblade," he said. "Yours is the only one I've seen compatible with the training."

"Cool..."

I pictured the glider and threw my Keyblade. It hit the wall.

"Out the window," he screamed.

"Right, right," I said, trying again.

It went out the window!

"Wooo," I yelled throwing my hands up.

After a while, Master Yen Sid thought something was wrong.

"It's not coming back."

"Aw, what the freaking heck..." I said, summoning my Keyblade again.

"Try again. Focus," Master Yen Sid said.

"I got it," I said, concentrating.

I threw it out the window and something came back and it wasn't my Ends of the Earth. What came back through that window was the speeder.

"Yes," I shouted, with excitement.

"Well done. Now you can take Anata out of here and solve the crisis in Traverse Town, Master Seth," Master Yen Sid said.

I smiled. "Thank you Master Yen Sid," I said climbing on my Glider.

I placed Anata in front and I flew back to Traverse Town.


	29. Ch 29: When Things Were Going Smoothly

((Lanes Between))

While I was flying, Anata woke up.

Startled she jumped a little, but I made sure she didn't fall off.

"Where we and what is this," Anata asked.

"We are in the Lanes Between and this is my Keyblade Glider," I replied.

"And you should really stop passing out; you miss all the good parts." I added, messing with her.

"Hehe. Whatever, you passed out after our fight with Xemnactus!"

"Very true," I said as I flew us into Traverse Town.

((Traverse Town: Third District))

When we got there, Mystery just dropped Mickey off and flew away.

"Well, are you two ready for the fight of your lives," he asked us.

"We've been ready," Anata said.

"Well then let's go," Mickey said, running off.

"I'll go get Max. I'm sure we'll need him for this," I told Anata.

"Okay. Hurry up," she said, kissing me on the cheek.

I walked in the Refugee House and found Max.

"Yo, Max," I shouted. "Duty calls in the Second District let's go!"

"I'll be right with ya," he replied, turning to the refugees.

"Okay everyone, Operation: Defense A and if it comes to it, Operation: Defense B. Got it?"

"Yessir," they all said as Max and I ran out.

"Operations," I asked confused.

"In case Heartless find the house."

"Ohh."

When we got to the Second District, a portion of the pool was obliterated. Anata and Mickey fought well, but they looked like they needed help.

"Ready," I asked Max summoning my Keyblade.

"Yeah," he said, rushing in, sword in hand.

I threw my Keyblade in the air to summon my Glider.

I climbed on and rode into the Heartless pit.

"Comin' through," I said, running Heartless over. "WEEEE!"

I used Skid Charge to destroy some more; which is like Barrier Surge, but on the Glider.

"What the..." Anata said, looking at it in awe.

"That's the Keyblade Glider," Mickey said, hitting a Heartless. "His is the only Key compatible."

"Aww..." Anata moaned.

I got off my Glider and it turned back to a Keyblade. I did my usual routine and prepared my favorite attack.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime," I shouted, getting rid of countless Heartless.

After Anata shot some with Light Arrows and Mickey used Holy, we all went back to back, while Max still hacked away.

"Lend me your power guys," Mickey shouted.

We pointed our Keyblades at him and they started to glow.

"Trinity Power," The mouse shouted.

The whole place went white and before we knew it, most of the Heartless were gone.

"Huh," Anata and I asked.

"Trinity Limit is an attack Keybearers can use when power is lent to them by their two closest friends," Mickey explained.

"I see," Anata said. "Dad used that with Donald and Goofy."

"Uh-huh! I did as well," Mickey said.

"How about some help," Max shouted.

"Oh shit, we forgot all about him," Anata said, face-palming.

We ran into battle again. Anata and I used our BiaThundaga several times until they all disappeared.

"And that's all she wrote," I exclaimed. "It's all over."

"Let's go to the Refugee House and celebrate," Max said.

"Then we can take them back home," Anata added.

"And so can all of us," Mickey said.

"Too bad Ashe, Soul and Maka had to miss this, he's gonna be sooo mad," I said.

"Knowing him, yes he will," Max agreed.

We stopped just before the Third District doors. Mickey turned to us.

"When the next crisis comes, I know I can trust the three of you with my life," he told us. "Ventus, Ashe, Soul and Maka too."

"Where is Ventus," I asked.

"I dunno, but what I do know is that he's safe and sound! Trust me."

"I believe you, King Mickey," Max said.

"And so do we," Anata said, looking at me.

I intertwined my hand with hers and we headed to the Third District.

We went through the door to find the Refugee House in ruin.

"What happened here," Mickey said rushing in.

We followed him and what we saw sent our plan flying out the window.

Everything inside the house was trashed.

Only a handful of people were left. Some had broken limbs and some mauled to death. Lots of people were just nowhere to be found.

"Gosh..." Mickey said.

"Where did everyone go..." Max asked.

I walked a little more into the room and found that little boy we talked to earlier. The cheerful soul turned into a scared figure in the fetal position.

"Hey," I said kneeling down. "What happened here? Do you know where everybody went?"

"Scary creatures..." he started with a traumatized voice. "They came... took people... they have Mommy and Daddy..."

He started to sob a little.

"Don't worry," I told him. "I will get them back I promise. What's your name?"

The boy looked up.

"-."

"Well -, you gotta stay strong for your parents and for everyone else that got taken," I told him. "By doing that, they will all come back. You want that right? Promise?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Promise."

"Okay," I said to him. "I need to talk with my friends. Can you make sure everyone's okay?"

The boy nodded. Then he got up and shook the person closest to us. I went over to the others.

"The defense system we planed didn't work Your Majesty..." Max said. "I don't know what to say..."

"Don't worry; we never tested them anyway Max," Mickey replied.

"I feel really bad for this... and I guess... I take full responsibility for what happened here," Max said.

"No don't do that," I said. "I was the one that took you away from your post. I am responsible."

I hung my head down then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see Anata.

"You're wrong Seth," she said. "If you didn't get Max, we would've been done for sure. And it was a good idea, four on a team is better than three."

"But we were just fine... we're Keyblade Masters for Christ sake, all three of us... we would've been fine..."

"Seth..." Anata said.

*SLAM!*

"We would've been fine," I shouted, slamming my fist against the wall.

I stomped out of the Refugee House and closed the door. Anata tried to go after me, but The King grabbed her arm.

"Let him have some time to think, Anata,"

"Right..." she said, looking at the door.

((Radiant Garden))

I rode my Glider to Radiant Garden and landed in front of the castle Hollow Bastion.

"Right now, we'd be bringing the people back..." I said.

All those people died because of me... That stupid mistake...

"I shouldn't be a Keyblade Master..." I said, sticking the Keyblade that was bestowed on me into the ground.

I walked into the castle where I used to train. Everything was exactly where we left it when we left, except dustier. I summoned my Keyblade.

"I guess I can do one more job," I said, raising the Keyblade.

It started to glow and all the dust disappeared. I went outside again and stuck the blade into the dirt, then went back in. I walked up the stairs to my room and took a nap.

'I give up,' I thought. 'They all could do a better job without me. All I'm doing is holding them back.'

When I woke up I looked at the clock. It read 3:35pm.

I yawned and went downstairs. I grabbed a Sea Salt Ice Cream from the freezer and walked out the door.

'Life as a regular person is gonna be weird, especially after all we've been through,' I thought.

My memories were flashing through my head. I saw the friends I made; Aladdin, Abu, Genie, Alice, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Auron, Jack, Santa, Kupo, Hayner, Pence and Olette. I saw my family; Riku, Anata, Aqua, Max, Mickey, Maka, Soul, and Ashe. I saw all the places I went to and the battle against Caractus and Xemnactus. I also thought of the G.L.A.S.S. members. And lastly, I thought of -. For a little kid I just met, he seemed to find a warm place in my heart. I took a bite from my ice cream.

"If we ever meet again, I'll pass that Keyblade on to you," I decided. "Not like I'm gonna need it."

The thought of family made me want to visit Riku and Aqua. I went back in the castle, through the hall, and to the backyard where their Keyblades laid. I sat in front of them.

"Hiya guys, what's shakin'," I asked the Keys.

After a short pause I started talking again.

"Not to talkative are ya? That's okay. I just came here to think and maybe, to not be alone."

I laid in the grass, watching the clouds go by. After a while, I pulled out the gemstone Riku gave me. "I didn't really have to come back to see you, huh Riku," I asked the gemstone.

I looked over to Aqua's Keyblade.

"But I gotta come back for Aqua, to make sure she doesn't feel forgotten."

I rolled over on my stomach and placed the gemstone right next to Riku's Keyblade. It began to glow a little just like in the Underworld.

"I've seen that stone before," said a voice behind me.

I picked up the gemstone and turned to see a familiar blonde haired boy with dark clothing.

"Derak," I said.

Derak smiled and sat in the grass in front of me.


	30. Ch 30: Corruption

"What do you want," I asked, not looking at him.

"Just to come pay my respects," he replied.

I stared at the guy in disbelief. It's true that he did save Anata and I just recently, but that was not any reason to trust him.

"I came to find you," he continued. "I knew you'd be here somehow."

"You caused the death of those refugees, didn't you?!"

"No, but I can see how you'd think that. I do, however, know who did it."

"Who?"

Derak chuckled.

"Information comes at a price," he said. "All you have to do is let me take a look at that gemstone of yours."

I kept my gemstone close, glaring at him.

"Don't you worry, I'm not gonna smash it or steal it from you," he reassured. "I promise on the gravestones behind us."

I reluctantly gave him the gemstone. He picked it up and aimed the side with the closed eye at me. Dark energy flowed from Derak, into the gemstone and the eye shot open.

"Now look into the eye, and tell me what you see," he said. "It won't be dangerous if your master gave it to you, right?"

"You have a point..." I said, looking into the gemstone.

What I saw changed how I saw everything.

((Traverse Town: Anata))

It's been hours since Seth left.

Since then, I've been doing some patrolling of the area to see if I can find some surviving refugees and some leftover Heartless.

"Five patrols and nothing..." I said.

I went over to the fountain in the Second District to find Max.

"How's your area," I asked him.

"Nothing, zip, nada," he replied. "Yours?"

"The same," I said looking down.

"For all we know, that might be all that's left and no more Heartless either," Max added. "Which is a good thing, right? The second part I mean."

I stayed silent.

'People I knew... my old friends, Merchants, some even retired heroes like the great Leon and Cloud... gone.'

I reassured myself.

'That can't be true! Leon and Cloud are probably around, since they have the Gunblade and Buster Sword.'

"Yeah..." I finally said. "No more Heartless is a good thing, but..."

"I know," Max said. "I'm kinda worried about him too. I think you should look for him."

"Look for him," I said looking up. "But you and Mickey..."

"We'll be fine," he said. "If it gets Seth out of that dark pit of grief, then so be it! I'm sure His Majesty would understand, he's a very nice guy."

"Alright," I said, taking out the Summon Gem. "I'll get him back."

I summoned Mystery and boarded. I waved to Max and went off.

"Now if I were Seth... I'd go back home. Heading to Radiant Gardens."

((Seth: Gemstone))

I saw two men fighting.

One was old with a small gray beard and the other was young with brown hair and a muscular build. They both had Keyblades and were evenly matched. The older man slashed at the other's legs and made him fall over.

"Now, Come to me Terra," the old man said, lunging at his opponent.

Terra aimed his Keyblade at the older man and shot him with darkness. The old man went back, and was barely breathing. Terra walked over to the old man.

"I will never give in Xehanort," he said. "I will never listen to you."

Terra walked away as he left the old man to die.

"Terra..." Xehanort moaned as he died.

I was freed from the vision.

'What was that,' I thought.

"That was the defeat of a great man named Xehanort," Derak said as if reading my mind.

"The young man, Terra, was once his student. Xehanort tried to teach him the ways of good, but Terra was somehow swayed to the darkness. Riku found Xehanort just a little after that. Gave him that gemstone he did, and so Riku set off to find the secrets of the gift. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to which is why he gave it to you, so you could find out how to use it."

"How do you know all of this," I asked him.

"I was there when it happened," he replied. "I was foolish enough to think teaming up with Caractus was gonna help me find that asshole... But it didn't."

"But I thought Terra was a good guy," I said. "Why did he have a Keyblade similar to the one I had?"

I was super confused!

"You were told wrong," Derak told me. "Did Anata tell you these things? I should've known..."

"What is it?"

"Sora and the others were plotting to reawaken the Keyblade War. But to do that, they needed Master Xehanort out of the way. Terra volunteered and barely succeeded. Everyone else saw them as good people... The people you called 'friends' caused the death of a great Keyblade Master and teacher. They all learned from him. It might be hard for you to hear Seth but-"

I stood up in anger and grabbed the kid by the collar.

"THAT IS ALL A LOAD OF BULL!"

I had enough of this.

"There is no way Anata or Mickey would do something like that! Riku wouldn't either!"

"You're right about Riku not doing it," Derak said. "He was left out of the loop which is how he found Xehanort there."

"How come they didn't reawaken the Keyblade War?"

"They didn't have all the pieces together because of what they did to Xehanort. By killing him, they destroyed the most needed and unknown element of reawakening the Keyblade War! Now put me down and face facts! Your friends are liars! You saw the fight in the gemstone! Riku would've never given it to you if you weren't meant to see it."

I loosened my grip. He was right, there. I didn't know what to say.

"If Master Riku wanted me to see that, then fine... but I am not going after my friends. They had nothing to do with this."

Derak chuckled.

"What's so funny," I asked him.

"I got a lock on you while you were in that trance," he said. "You won't be yourself after this, or even remember who I am."

Somehow I felt strange. I looked down at my body and noticed that I was radiating a dark aura; the same that Derak had now. I started to walk towards him, but my legs wouldn't move after three steps. My eyes got droopy and I fell to the ground.

Everything went blank.

I had that same dream with the two men in the black cloaks.

And like last time the black cloaked man won against the three in Kyblade Armor, taking the helmet off of one and there was Anata...

I woke up and didn't feel the same. I didn't know who I was for a second, but then it came back to me. I looked down and saw I was given new clothes. I had a black jacket with black and blue pants in a different pattern than before. The collar of my jacket was purple. I stood up and went inside the castle. I came out the front entrance to where I placed my Keyblade. I pulled it out of the ground and took out my gemstone with the opened eye.

"I think I know now Master..." I said as I placed it on the hilt of my Ends of the Earth.

The Keyblade's appearance changed from an earthy theme to a dark theme with reds and blacks.

"Chaos Ripper," I said looking at my new Keyblade.

I summoned my Glider, which looked the same as before, and took off.

"I will get revenge for Old Man Xehanort," I said, like I knew the man.


	31. Ch 31: Dark vs Light - Fighting Derak

((Derak))

After some time Seth woke up looked at his new form, and flew off.

"Heheheh... it worked," I said, watching my new creation fly away. "That gullible bastard. If I were to take a guess, he's off to destroy them. My plan will run smoothly."

I opened a Dark Corridor and left.

((Anata: Lanes Between))

"Where could he be," I asked out loud.

He's really worrying me... I went to Radiant Gardens, but he wasn't there. I don't know where else he'd be.

"Huh? What's that darkness," I asked looking at an unfamiliar world.

"Seth's gonna have to wait I guess..." I said as I steered Mystery to the dark place.

((The Keyblade Graveyard))

"What is this place," I asked, looking around.

It was a giant wasteland, and there were Keyblades in the ground everywhere.

"Now to find that darkness," I said walking off.

I kept going until I came to this pathway with Keyblades on either side. There was another path and they bisected in the middle. There I saw someone in black clothing and dark hair.

'No... It couldn't be...' I thought as I ran over there.

I was right. It was Seth. Even though I knew it was my boyfriend standing right in front of me, it felt like I was looking at a different person. He looked the same, but the atmosphere around him seemed... dark. It could be this world, but I'm not too sure.

"Seth what are you doing here," I asked. "C'mon, Mickey, Max, and Kupo are worried about you."

"Let them worry," he said in a stern voice.

"What," I asked.

"I know everything now, so don't play dumb."

"Seth you're starting to scare me..." I said inching away.

"I know that your family plotted against Master Xehanort! The greatest Keyblade Master there ever was!"

"Master Xehanort," I asked. "No, no, no. You got it all wrong! Master Xehanort was a bad man! He helped create the Heartless and was the vessel for Xemnas and Xemnactus! If Xehanort wasn't around my parents would still be alive!"

"It's Terra's fault," Seth said, summoning a Keyblade I've never seen before.

"What happened to your Ends of the Earth?"

"It looked too much like Terra's Keyblade, so I changed it up a little," he said. "It's called the Chaos Ripper."

I summoned my own Keyblade.

"Oh no," Seth said. "I don't wanna fight you. If you'd just stay out of my way I'd appreciate it. This has been fun, but I really gotta be going. I only came here to rid myself of my old power that is now useless."

"Seth..." I was shocked.

His light was fading and I had to stop it from going completely. I readied my Keyblade, and charged at him. He summoned his Glider before I had a chance to get there, and he flew away.

"God damn it," I shouted, throwing my Keyblade on the ground.

"Tragic isn't it," said a voice behind me. "It seems that his heart has been tampered with."

I turned to see Derak coming out of a Dark Corridor. He summoned dark flames in his hand.

"Maybe by the power of... darkness?"

"What did you do to him," I yelled.

"I just merely opened his heart, looked inside and then planted some false memories," he explained. "Closed it back up and voila, you get a boy filled with darkness. Sort of what happened to you at that desert world, no?"

"Why would you do this," I asked. "I thought you were one of us! You protected us from the Heartless!"

"That I did," he admitted. "But that was just so you two could kill Caractus for me. But I did help a little, I took away his dark power, leaving him with nothingness which, isn't stronger then darkness, there isn't anything that is, really."

"Light is stronger than darkness," I started. "My father is proof of that! And what are you anyways? Building up a man just to have people tear him down... If Caractus was an innocent guy before..."

"I needed someone to do the dirty work, and he was a lowly servant when I found him years ago. And what I am... well in technical terms, I am a Heartless."

"What? But Heartless are little black creatures," I said. "Sometimes bigger but never in humanoid form!"

"It's a funny story actually, I am not actually Derak. The idiot that brought me to the Realm of Light's name was Derak. He found Ansem's hidden experiments and tweaked the mistakes so he could use them for his cloning experiments. One of his apprentices volunteered to be cloned and through that experiment, I was created. What he didn't leave out, was the dark energy required for the Heartless and as a result, that was all I had and Prof. Derak was ordering me around and I just couldn't have that. You must know how that ended."

"So you mean to tell me, that Caractus wasn't the mastermind, but you were," I asked.

"Sounds about right. And I can't have you ruining my plans for your boyfriend, so I'll have to put an end to that," Derak said, summoning his Keyblade.

I picked mine up and charged at him.

Derak shot darkness at me but I dodged it, and then shot light at him.

I thought I got him, but he jumped at the last second and shot again. We kept dodging and shooting until I broke the pattern with a Blizzaga. All the projectiles hit their target and Derak was pushed to the ground. Before he could get up again, I knocked some Light Arrows and pelted him. He was covered in arrows when he stood up again.

"Very persistent are we," Derak said, taking an arrow from his body. He threw it on the ground and aimed his Keyblade at me.

"DARK FIARGA!"

A fire ball cloaked in darkness flew at me at a high speed. I circled around the attack and launched a Sonic Blade at him. He was stunned for a moment so I hit him with my own Fiarga.

"Alright, my turn," Derak said as he emanated darkness.

He attacked with what looked like Sonic Blade, so I tried dodging it but it wasn't the attack I knew so well. It was faster, stronger, longer, and at the end he disappeared. I looked around and before I knew it I was launched in the air. I looked to the ground and I saw a dark hand come out of Derak's Void Gear.

"Dark Impulse. Impressive, no," he said with a smirk.

"No," I said, bombing him with Light Arrows.

He replied with a dark mockery of my own attack and we started shooting until there were no more places to shoot at. I fell to the ground, panting heavily. At first I thought I had lost this battle, but I looked up and saw my opponent on the ground as well. A Dark Corridor appeared under him and he disappeared, leaving me alone in this wasteland.

"This is gonna be a long search..." I said as I laid there, exhausted

.

((Seth))

I had gone to Traverse Town to find Mickey, who was most likely at the Refugee House. I took a couple steps, and then Derak appeared in front of me.

"How come you left The Keyblade Graveyard," he asked me.

"I came to get rid of the King," I replied.

"Why? All he's done is travel with Riku and rule his Kingdom," he said. "As much as I'd like to see that little mouse squirm, you need to finish off that wretched family who killed the Great Master. I know it might be hard but I can assure you it will be worth it."

Suddenly, I felt a surge of darkness run through my body.

"Wha...?"

"I gave you some power. I think you'll need it," Derak said as he disappeared again.

"I have no business here I guess," I said as I summoned my Glider and rode away.


	32. Ch 32: So Many Questions

((Anata))

I woke up in a strange place.

There was nothing but darkness all around. Everything felt so mysterious and slightly peaceful. Am I dead? I got up and realized I was standing on a stained glass platform of my dad.

"Whoa..." I said in awe.

I heard something behind me and when I looked, there was a path leading to a different stained glass platform.

"**Step up the path. Can you do it? Don't be afraid," **I heard a voice say.

"Let's see where this goes," I said, walking up the path.

When I got to the other platform I looked to see what it was. It was colored dark red with a sleeping princess. The princess had vines with thorns crawling upon her, as if trying to take something from her. Suddenly, the path disappeared and four boulders appeared, all in each cardinal direction. The North boulder was glowing so I decided to check it out. It had writing on it and the voice read it aloud**: "Of the Keyblades, light and darkness, two shall win the struggle. One shall be the savior and the other falls to dark. The Gemstone guides the victim to their proper place**."

The boulder to the East was now glowing and it showed Seth and I using our Sun and Moon technique on Xemnactus.

"Light and Darkness and winning a struggle..." I said.

The South boulder now glowed and it showed the battle in Traverse Town without Mickey, Seth or Max. It also showed Seth in the crossroads of The Keyblade Graveyard.

"Falling and saving..." I repeated.

What did this all mean? The West boulder had shown the last. It had a picture of Terra, Riku and Derak in a triangle. In the middle of the triangle, it showed the gemstone Seth had with an eye inside it.

"Did Riku get that from Derak," I wondered. "I thought it was from Terra..."

I am so confused!

The voice spoke again**: "The prophecy is true. You are the savior who will attempt to save this world from darkness. As for the other, his part will come soon. Brace yourself**."

"Brace my- AHHHHH!"

I didn't have time to finish because the platform shattered and I fell to what I thought was my death.

I awoke to find myself on a blue platform with a different princess in a white dress. There was a circular horse carriage and a giant castle in the background.

'Whaddup with the princesses,' I thought.

Again four boulders showed up around me. The one I faced had more writing on it and the voice narrated again.

"**The victim wakes and so will destruction. Keyblades of light and darkness will fight, bringing the end of all worlds. The successor can set things right through THE BOOK." **

"A book," I asked.

The platform to my right showed Seth at Radiant Gardens looking up at the castle we trained at. Does he destroy the castle? The platform behind me showed three people in armor fighting a cloaked figure. Two of the armored figures were floating. Who are these people? Then the platform to my left showed a kid in his room writing a book. What is so special about a book?

"**So many questions, but so little answers and so little time. But don't forget, your light will shine through the deepest darkness. Remember this prophecy; the prophecy of the Yin-Yang."**

After the voice was done, I started glowing, along with half of the platform. The half I was on was covered in darkness and was creeping up on the light side. I looked across from me and I see a silhouette of Seth, glaring at me with wild golden eyes. The glare was so overwhelming that I collapsed and everything went blank.


	33. Ch 33: New Power From the Afterlife

((Radiant Gardens: Anata))

I woke up in my room in the castle.

"How'd I get here," I wondered as I got out of bed.

I went down the stairs and to the backyard where Uncle Riku and Aqua's Keyblades were. They looked slightly dusty, but not as bad as the ones in the Keyblade Graveyard.

"I think I'll polish these for you guys," I said to the Keys.

I attempted to take out Uncle Riku's but then I fell to the ground and started to get drowsy.

"But... I just woke up..." I mumbled as I went back to dreamland.

I woke up in a strange place. There were clouds everywhere on the ground and there was a stone path leading to a gate.

"Well at least I'm not back in that stained glass platform place," I said as I followed the path.

The path lead me to a castle that looked just like the one back home. The only difference was it was gleaming with light that I've never seen before or even thought possible. I walked through the gate and realized something: this was Radiant Gardens! Except for the fact that everything wasn't destroyed/eaten by the Heartless.

"Hey! Anata," I heard a voice say.

I turned and I saw my uncle running towards me.

"Hey how've ya been," he asked.

"Uncle Riku? What is this place," I asked him.

"Well, kiddo you're in the Afterlife."

My jaw dropped.

"Afterlife," I asked. "Am I dead?"

"No you're not dead," he chuckled. "You came here by touching my Keyblade right? Then it's time for you to come with me."

"I have a question," I said to my uncle.

"What's that?"

"Is my dad..."

"Yeah. Your mom also. We're all here well, except for Ven, but that might mean he's still alive."

We got to the castle, and I saw two familiar faces. A man with spiky hair and a woman with auburn hair at medium length.

"Mom, Dad," I shouted, running to them with tears running down my face.

"Anata! My, my, look at how much you've grown," Dad said, hugging me.

"How's my princess," Mom said as I hugged her.

"It's so good to finally see you again," I said as we let go.

"Hey you," I heard a voice say.

I looked up and saw my master walking down some stairs.

"Master Aqua," I said as she came down to us.

"I see the time has come," she said.

"Yeah. Come with us Anata," Riku agreed as all of us walked to the backyard.

There we saw the Way to Dawn and Stormfall as they were on the real world.

"They are like this here too," I asked.

"Yes. We can't interfere with items in the real world, but don't worry that doesn't affect our Keyblade use," Aqua said as she summoned her Keyblade along with Uncle Riku.

"Wait," Dad started. "If Anata's here then..."

A beam of light appeared in his hand as my Kingdom Key toke it's place. He looked overjoyed.

"Ah, it's so nice to see the old blade again," Dad said, slashing the air.

"Sorry about taking your Keyblade, Dad." I giggled.

"Eh, don't sweat it," he said giving it back. "I got something else."

The Kingdom Key started to glow and a blue Keyblade with complicated designs toke its place.

"This here is called the Ultima Weapon. Neat, huh?"

"Sora, let Riku and Aqua talk with Anata," Mom said.

"Oh, sorry hunny. Carry on you two," he gestured toward my teachers.

"Well anyway, I've seen that Seth has taken a wrong turn," Uncle Riku started. "It's not his own doing, I can sense it."

"It's Derak," I said. "He's an evil dude who did the same thing to me in Agrabah; except it's taken a bigger effect on Seth."

"That's because Seth's darkness is strong in him as it is in myself and it can be dangerous at his age. That's one of the reasons it works better on him," Uncle Riku continued.

"One," I asked.

"The other reason," Mom said. "Is that your heart isn't like other people's. Your heart is 75% light and 25% darkness because I am a Princess of Heart and have 100% light."

"I... am more pure," I asked, confused.

"That's right," Aqua joined in. "And like Seth saved you then, you have to save him now."

"I know, but how to go about it... I'm not sure. I don't wanna hurt him..."

"Don't worry," Mom said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "It's for the good of everything."

"I guess so..." I agreed. "What do I do?"

"You have to defeat him in battle," Aqua explained. "But as you are now, and what Seth has become, he has the power to kill you easily."

"Wonderful," I replied sarcastically.

"But the four of us have gifts for you that can make you stronger and be a match for the fight."

"Sweet! What are they?"

"I'll go first," Uncle Riku said.

He took a golden orb out of his pocket.

"This is an ability. Use it well."

He raised it above my head, and crushed it making stardust pieces fly all around me.

"Thanks Uncle Riku," I said.

"Now me," Aqua said.

She took a silver orb out of her pocket.

"To use this ability, you need the one your uncle gave you and this will make it stronger."

She did the same as Uncle Riku, making more stardust.

"Thanks Master Aqua."

"Oh! Oh! I wanna go next," Dad said, jumping up and down.

"Do you really need to do that," Mom asked him. "You act like such a child sometimes."

"But Kairi! It's fun!"

"What am I gonna do with you..." Mom sighed.

Dad laughed then pointed his Ultima Weapon at the stardust.

"Open Sesame," he shouted, making all the little pieces attach to my clothing.

"The same suit everyday must get boring, so I gave you a clothing ability that works with the ones you just received."

"Thanks Dad," I turned to Mom who was taking off her necklace.

"As for myself, I give you my necklace that your master enchanted. It will always keep you safe and it's a family heirloom since your great-grandmother."

"Thanks Mom."

I felt better about everything now that I knew my family was watching over me. We all walked back to the entrance gate that I came through.

"Well, this is as far as we go," Dad announced. "I wish you could stay a little longer but..."

"Don't worry Dad, you're always watching over me right?"

"That I am sweetheart," he said, ruffling my hair.

"Tell Seth we are watching him too," Aqua said.

"Will do," I replied. "Uhm how do I get outta here?"

As if on cue, I blacked out again, going back to where I came.

((Radiant Gardens))

I awoke in the backyard.

I stood up and wiped tears off my face. I sensed a powerful darkness and knew he was here.

"Now or never," I said running back into the castle.

When I came out the front doors, I saw a boy dressed in black holding a red and black Keyblade.

"I've found you," he said, piercing me with his sharp green eyes.

I summoned my own Keyblade and prepared myself for battle.

"I will stop you," I said to him.

"You can try I guess," he said, walking towards me. "But I know you don't have the strength to beat me."

"I won't try I will do," I shouted.

Tears ran down my face and I charged at the new face of a boy that I used to know


	34. Ch 34: Battle of the Yin-Yang

I shot blasts of light at him while I charged in.

He ran at me as well, deflecting the attacks without a problem. We slashed at each other and our Keyblades clashed.

"Your attacks are nothing," he said, unfazed.

I jumped back and launched a Firaga at him. He just dodged at the last second and shot a Thundara. I got shocked and I fell to the ground. Even though it was just a second-level spell, it felt like a third or even fourth. Did he really gain this much strength from the Darkness?

"What did I tell you," Seth asked chuckling. "My darkness is greater than your light. That Thundara wasn't a regular spell, it was Dark Thundara. Zaps down anything it touches. It would be rather disappointing if you didn't have any new attacks since I left."

I got up. The pain was terrible, but I had to be strong. Just then, I had an idea. I threw a Strike Raid at him, but it missed. My opponent watched it go passed his face and when he looked over, it was too late. I had a Blizzaga in my hand and it made contact with his face!

"Eat this bitch," I shouted.

Seth doubled-over and landed ten feet away. When he got up, his left eye and cheek were frozen. He growled and darkness formed around the ice. The black energy thawed his face and the skin was slightly darker than before. His eye added a gold tint to its original green. He smiled a crazy smile and Keyblade in hand, flew towards me. Literally. FLEW! His Keyblade was being dragged across the ground and I knew he was getting ready for his favorite attack: Uppercut of the Afterlifetime. I jumped over him and attempted to shoot some Light Arrows. I say attempted because when I tried to ready them, he swung his Chaos Ripper into my side and I was launched into the air mercilessly. Things couldn't get worse right? WELL IF YOU THOUGHT SO YOU ARE FREAKING WRONG!

He teleported above me and slammed me back down to the ground.

"Ahh," I screamed in pain.

"If you would just give up, things would've went so much easier," Seth said."It pains me to see you hurt like this Anata, it truly does but-"

"But you'd hurt me anyway? It's not just me its all of us," I shouted. "Max, Mickey, Ashe's group and where ever he is, Ventus! Uncle Riku and Master Aqua said they were watching over us... and then you go and pull something like this. Well guess what..."

Even though it was really painful, I stood up.

"I WONT HAVE IT! I WILL DEFEAT YOU EVEN IF IT MEANS I HAVE TO DIE!"

It was time to check out my new abilities.

"Break," I yelled as my whole body started to glow.

When the light dimmed I noticed that I wasn't on the ground.

I looked down and where I was standing was six inches below me! I also noticed that my clothes were different. I was clad in splotches of blue and purple with the cuffs of my pants and shirt black. There was also a black four-pointed star in the middle and in the middle of the star, was a golden circle. Mom's necklace transformed from a shell, to a paopu fruit from Destiny Islands. The last difference was the strangest and probably the best. That's right. Something was better than floating! Behind me were two Keyblades, acting as wings. They were Way to Dawn and Stormfall. I still had my Kingdom Key in my hand.

"What the-" Seth said, amazed.

"Aqua... Uncle Riku... Mom... Dad... Be with me," I said, readying myself for battle.

Seth charged at me, cloaking himself in darkness. I sent my wing Keyblades away and followed suit, cloaking myself in light. We charged and hit each other. The blast sent both of us flying backward, hitting the ground. I saw Seth get up and I was still on the ground. He chuckled and raised his Keyblade to me, getting ready to end my life when all of a sudden; Way to Dawn slapped him in the face! He went towards the ground, but before he made contact Stormfall stabbed him in the stomach. For laughs and giggles, I sent my Kingdom Key after him too, so I didn't have to get up to fight. Seth dodged the attacks I sent after him until all three Keyblades smashed him in the air at the same time. They formed a three-pronged throwing star and flew at it's target; cutting him several times before he hit the ground again.

"H-How are you doing that," the opponent asked me.

"Gifts from the Afterlife," I said, getting up and floating toward him.

"Uncle Riku gave me Synch Blade, which allows me to wield two Keyblades," I explained. "Then Master Aqua upgraded that ability making it Syncharna Blade, allowing me to hold three Keyblades. Then my father gave me clothing for the Syncharna Blade, making it into a Drive Form. The reason I can float is because my mom gave me a necklace of light, which gave my Drive Form telekinesis so I can float around. Powers you might've had if you stayed with us."

When I finished talking I was a couple inches away from him. He got up and unleashed more dark power. Seth's skin was super dark at this point and his left eye had gone completely gold. A whitish tint was added to his hair and I saw pointed ears.

"I got power you haven't seen yet as well..." he said, still transforming.

When he was done, his clothing went completely black. He bore fangs that were of a dull blue color, and he had a strange blue symbol on the back of his jacket. The most startling part was his eyes turned savage. They looked like if he unleashed any more, he would turn into a Heartless and could single-handedly cover all the worlds with darkness.

"Stop crying and fight me," the demonic figure shouted.

I touched my check and felt a tear.

"Y-You're not Seth..." I started.

"You killed the Seth I once knew and now I have no choice!"

I rushed at my former friend with my three Keyblades ready.

It pains me to think this but... I have to kill him...


	35. Ch 35: One Small Mistake

I charged at the thing before me and it roared in reply.

I slashed Way to Dawn into its stomach and hit it with my other two Keyblades. It flew into the air and I sent Stormfall after it. The monster fell to the ground and whimpered a bit.

"Doesn't feel good does it," I asked.

It got up and lunged at me. I leaped back but then I was tossed in the air and my side was killing me. I looked down and saw the monster where I was just floating. I hit the ground and it walked toward me.

"How did you-"

"My... power... unimaginable..." the creature said.

"So you're still in there somewhere," I said getting up. "If I could unlock the real you, you just might not get put down here."

"Destroy... Anata... Master... Xehanort..." It said getting into fight position.

I readied my Keyblades as well.

It leaped at me, getting ready to slash. Before it got to me I used Strike Raid and made it fly back. Darkness emitted from its upper body and stuck the Keyblade into the ground. I charged in, spinning my wing Keyblades rapidly. The monster somehow got through that defense and cold-cocked me in the mouth. I landed on the ground yet again and when I tried to get up; it held its Keyblade to my face.

"You... no go... Darkness... consume you..." it said.

I had just about enough of this.

"Seth I know you're in there, and I might be a little too late but... you need to wake up and come back to me," I said.

I was doubtful that it would work, but I had to try one last time.

"No go... sorry... Anata... my... friend..."

As I suspected there was still a little more Seth in that savage creature left in order to start my new plan. I twitched my finger and Way to Dawn and Stormfall flew up and hit it behind the head, which gave me enough time to slash it with the Kingdom Key. It fell on the ground and so the monster wouldn't get up again, I made my wings stabilize his limbs. The creature struggled and at it, I pointed my remaining Keyblade.

"Time for this to end," I said.

The monster roared as I got ready to use the spell my master taught me.

"What would I use this for," I asked.

"When Seth first emerged from the pile of rubble when we found him, I sensed a darkness that Riku and Terra had," Aqua explained. "And so we can calm him down a little, I've developed a spell in case he gets out of control one day."

"How's it work," I asked.

"It gets rid of all the memories of using dark power and tends to make people stay away from it," she explained. "I know because I used it on a Heartless a while back, and I haven't seen any more in that spot. Keep in mind this was YEARS ago."

"Cool! Lemme try!"

"Calm down, calm down," Aqua chuclked as she started to look around.

She stopped when her eyes rested on some rocks.

"How 'bout we try on those? The spell is called 'Erase.' Just point and shoot, kinda like the Locklaser."

"Okey Dokie," I said, aiming.

"Erase," I shouted, sending a gray light out of my Keyblade.

It hit its mark and we went to check it out.

"Nice Anata! It worked," The master praised.

"Hehe," I laughed smiling.

"Let's get us some ice cream, okay," Aqua said.

"Yeah sounds good," I replied.

"Master..." I said, raising my Keyblade. "Be with me."

The creature screamed trying to get free, but it was no use.

"Erase," I shouted making a purple light shoot out of my Key.

"What," I started. "It's supposed to be-"

I couldn't finish because instead of hitting my target, I hit Stormfall and it shone bright with energy.

"Damn it," I shouted.

The monster shouted a blood-curdling scream and the whole place went white.

When I could see again, I was looking up at a dark sky. It was raining but I couldn't feel any raindrops. Not only that, I couldn't feel anything at all. I looked over to Seth and he was still a monster. I didn't have the energy to lift my head back up. It was like it was drained out of me.

"Is this what death feels like..." I said as I closed my eyes. "If so... I'm coming Dad..."

All my muscles relaxed and all at once everything seemed to... stop.


	36. Ch 36: Cleaning Up the Mess

((King Mickey))

I landed my Gummi Ship at the gate at Radiant Gardens.

I looked around a bit then followed a path to the city.

"Max said she was here..." I said out loud. "Time to find her and get her back."

Maybe some Sea-Salt Ice Cream will get her mind off of things.

I found the castle myself and the others were based at during the crisis. I walked to the front yard and saw Seth and Anata unconscious on the ground.

"Guys," I shouted running towards them.

I went to Seth first.

"Seth? Seth," I yelled shaking him. "Aw, c'mon buddy wake up!"

It was no use, so I tried Anata next.

"Anata! Wake up," I shouted.

All I got was nothin'.

"Gosh..." I said.

I got them to the Gummi Ship and flew off to see the one person I knew who would know what to do about this.

((Mysterious Tower))

I went up the stairs as fast as I could and reached the door.

"Master Yen Sid," I shouted busting down the door. "I need you to see something!"

"Mickey? What's with all the racket," he said standing up.

"Seth and Anata are in the Gummi Ship and won't wake up. I know it's not natural, help me please!"

"Well then, let's see," Master Yen Sid said.

The wizard turned and faced his giant chair. He grabbed at the bottom right side and opened a door. Inside the door was an elevator.

"Are you coming Mickey," he asked me.

"That was there the whole time?"

"You expect an old man like me to use stairs?"

"How come you didn't install that elevator for everyone to use?"

"It costs munny and you young ones can get some exercise. Now, show me the Keyblade Masters."

"Yes, Master Yen Sid," I said joining him in the elevator.

When we got to the Gummi Ship, I took my friends out and laid them on the ground. Master Yen Sid inspected them both closely, and then shook his head in defeat.

"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do my friend. I'm sorry."

"Aww..." I said.

Who did this to them? Why do I keep losing people?

"Don't lose hope Mickey," my master said as if reading my mind.

"If I am correct, their damage is a result of memories in their hearts disfunctioning. You know who to see, yes?"

"Thank you Master Yen Sid," I said boarding everything onto the Gummi Ship.

I knew exactly who to see.

((Twilight Town))

I landed inside the gate of the mansion.

I got out of the ship and with Seth in one arm, and Anata in the other, I went inside the mansion. It was hard on a little guy like me, but who else was gonna get them inside? I trudged up the stairs and went left into a hallway. I went inside the second room on the right and ended up in a white room. Inside the room was a blonde girl in a white dress drawing something.

"Namine," I said, trying for her attention.

She looked up from her picture.

"Your Majesty, I knew you were gonna be here. Let's take a look at them," Namine said getting up.

I placed them on the ground and Namine examined them as Master Yen Sid did.

"I see," Namine said. "This is a memory problem."

"That's what Master Yen Sid said," I explained. "Do ya think there's a chance you can fix it, Namine?"

"Well, since she's Sora's daughter, I can try Anata," she said. "Seth is what I'm worried about. Since he has no ties to Sora at all, I cannot repair him, and even if I could, it would take a while."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry Your Majesty."

"It's fine. There's nothin' you can do," I said walking over to the table.

My eyes landed on her sketch pad and on the page, I saw Namine sitting at the table and I stood at the doorway, holding Seth and Anata.

"If you can only draw Sora's memories, then how come you drew this," I asked pointing to the picture.

Something clicked in Namine's mind.

"That's right! To keep tabs on Anata, I synced my power to her memories so I guess fixing Seth can work! Good thing you noticed that, King Mickey."

"Yes it is," I replied. "Now can ya start?"

"I'll start with Seth," Namine went over to her sketch pad and started drawing.

"Whataya doin," I asked.

"Drawing Seth's heart," she explained. "It's the only way I can peer inside his memories."

In the matter of minutes she was done.

"Oh no..." she said. "He has so much darkness and I see a hideous monster! I can't bring back his memory fully, but I can hide them inside his heart so he can unlock the chains."

"That'll havta do. Now for Anata," I said, looking over at the girl.

Namine got a new page out and started drawing again.

"Hmmm... It seems that Anata was the cause of the memory loss in these two," she explained. "She used some spell to erase them with light, but it must've backfired. If she was in a different situation... I might be able to save her memories, but..."

"But what?"

"She hurt light with light and that caused the memories to go so deep in her heart, that there's only a slight chance she'd ever be able to call them back if I fix her."

"What happens if she's not fixed?"

"Then she will remain a lifeless shell and will slowly die."

As she said this, I saw a tear form in her eye. I had forgotten that Kairi was Namine's Somebody so that means in a way, Anata was her daughter as well.

"So either way..." I started.

"The Anata we knew will be no more," Namine finished. "I should heal them. Follow me."

Namine picked up Anata and opened a door.

With Seth in my arms I followed.

We were in a white room with three pods.

We walked up to them and put Seth and Anata down.

"These are the pods Sora, Donald, and Goofy were in aren't they," I asked.

"That's right," Namine replied. "Place Seth in a pod."

I did as instructed and chose the pod on the right. Namine put Anata in the pod on the left. The two pods started to glow, and I turned my attention to the one that was not.

"The center one was Sora's," I said.

"Yes, and hopefully, Sora will be there for these two in their time of need," Namine said.

After she said that, the center one lit up.

"Sora..." we both said.

"Namine," I said.

"Hmm," she turned to me.

"When they're finished contact me. Don't wake them though, I have a plan for them that will only work if they're asleep."

"Understood," Namine said.

"Thank you for your help," I said leaving.

"Oh, Your Majesty," Namine shouted.

I turned back and she had a white orb in her hand.

"Use this for Anata," she tossed the orb in the air and light swirled around me.

"See you soon," Namine said, waving.

I nodded and ran back to The White Room. When I got there, I went to the main part of the mansion and then to my Gummi Ship. Before I went inside, I turned to face the window of Namine's room. "Take care of them," I said.

After that, I climbed into the Gummi Ship and flew back to Traverse Town. It was time to transfer the refugees back to Radiant Gardens.


	37. Ch 37: The Death of Sora's Daughter

((Traverse Town))

When I arrived back in the Third District, I found Max outside the Refugee House.

"King Mickey," he said, waving to me. "Did you find Seth and Anata?"

"Yes," I said. "They were hurt badly so I took them to a friend. She'll be able to heal them."

"Oh..." Max said.

"Any idea who did that?"

"No clue," I replied. "Load up the people its time they went home."

We went to get the remnants from Radiant Gardens. Kupo and the rest of the Moogles helped us get them inside of Mystery.

"Kupo, take care of things," I told him.

"Don't worry, kupo," he said. "Tell Seth hi from Traverse Town, kupo."

I nodded and went to the Gummi Ship. Max was already in the pilot's seat.

"The train connected to the ship," I asked him.

"Got it done Your Majesty."

"All right. Let's go," I said as Max flew us out.

((Hollow Bastion))

When we landed we got the people out of the train and they went to find their homes as instructed. "Well Max, 'till we meet again," I said as we shook hands.

He flew off and I went to the castle. I climbed up to the highest room and summoned my Kingdom Key D.

"One light spell per Keyblade..." I said pointing it out the window.

"RESTORE!"

Light spat out the Keyblade. Everything the light touched came back to the way it was before the crisis.

"Once again, Radiant Gardens is how it should be," I said, leaving the room.

I went to the garage where we kept the Gummi Ships. I saw two of them. One of them was Riku's but the other one I had no idea.

"Hmm," I wondered. "Sora's is rusting away at The Keyblade Graveyard, Aqua Terra and Ventus didn't need them, Max has the one from Disney Castle, Roxas Axel and Xion used Dark Corridors, so... This must be Kairi's," I decided.

I hopped into Riku's Gummi Ship and set off. When I finally hit the Lanes Between I heard Namine's voice in my head.

"Seth and Anata are ready."

I pushed some buttons and flipped some switches to changed my course.

"And just when I finally could go home," I said.

((Twilight Town))

I landed right in front of the Old Mansion. I walked inside and made my way to The White Room, greeting Namine when I got there. We went to the room where Seth and Anata were and the pods opened. I picked them both up and trudged out of the room with Namine following. I was plenty tired when we got to The White Room. I was sweating up an ocean!

"Here, let me help you," Namine said, taking Seth.

"Thank you," I replied.

We stopped when we reached the Gummi Ship.

"I gotta take Anata into town," I told Namine. "Open the ship, put Seth in, then close it again."

Namine nodded and opened the ship as I went on.

After getting through a couple of plazas, I ended up inside the train station. I trudged up the stairs to the top of the Clock Tower with Anata hung over my right shoulder. I did my best not to hit her on the ground, but I'm not very tall... not very much I could do. When I got to the top, I went to the front of the tower, placing my friend on the ground next to me.

After shaking out my arms from all the lifting I did, I summoned both my Kingdom Key D and Star Seeker.

"Now for the other one," I said, pointing Star Seeker out to the world as I did before. I pointed my other one at Anata's heart.

"Establish," I casted.

Light came out of both Keyblades and hit their marks. I dismissed the Keyblades and turned to Anata.

"There ya go Anata," I told her. "Establish made everyone in the town think you were here the whole time. It also did the same for you. Don't worry, you'll be fine here."

I picked her up and left the clock tower. The result of my spell made everyone black out so the false memory could be planted. I chose a house for Anata's new family and put her in the living room. I looked outside and people started to get up.

"W-Who are you..." I heard Anata ask.

I turned to see the confused face of a former Keyblade Master. I closed my eyes and let out a tear.

'It worked...' I thought.

"Goodbye... old friend," I said to her as I left.

I went outside and made my way to the hole in the wall that led to the mansion. I went inside and walked through the forest, seeing my Gummi Ship and Seth in the passenger seat. I opened the door and jumped in the driver's seat. Flying out of Twilight Town, I turned to my comatose friend.

"Now for you," I said as I flew off to Seth's home.

((Radiant Gardens))

When I got to Radiant Gardens, I landed by the castle. I placed Seth right outside the gate sitting up. "I'm sorry about not puttin' ya in your room Seth but... If I get any closer to the castle…"

Suddenly my eyes burst with tears.

"I guess it's too late now..." I said.

I drew myself together and looked at my friend.

"Come find me when you wake up," I said.

Then I got into my Ship and flew home.

'Good luck, both of you,' I thought.

((Seth))

I woke up sitting up against a stone wall. I got up and looked around. For a second I didn't know where I was but then I suddenly remembered everything.

"Anata... Anata!"

I started running towards The Market, thinking that I might find her there. As I passed, I saw some kids playing Kickball. The one-up-to kick sent the ball flying my way.

'It won't hit me, it'll miss me,' I thought.

I was wrong because it hit me square in the face. I fell down and hit my head pretty bad.

"Mister? Mister?! Are you okay? Mister!"

That was the last thing I heard before everything went blank.


	38. Ch 38: Who am I?

I woke up on a couch that was in front of a warm fireplace.

"Oh, you're up," I heard someone say.

I looked over and I saw a girl sitting in a chair smiling at me. In her lap was a black cat with purple wings. The girl had pink pajamas with purple crown patterns, looking to be about seventeen years old.

"Where am I..." I asked.

I tried sitting up but my head immediately started hurting. The pain was so bad that I fell of the couch. The cat started laughing at me.

"Not very graceful, are you," the girl asked me.

I rubbed my aching head.

"I guess not," I said.

She helped me back on the couch and then went back to the chair.

"Well, time for introductions," she said. "What's your name?"

"My name is... Uh…"

What was my name again? I thought hard but I got nothing. Come to think of it, I don't remember anything before waking up here...

"I'm not sure..." I answered.

The girl frowned.

"That's no good," she said. "This is Mew and my name is Seyanica but my friends call me Sey."

"Sey, huh," I said. "Nice to meet you."

'Meeww," The cat shouted.

"Huh? What'd I do," I asked Sey.

She laughed.

"She thinks you forgot her," Sey explained.

This time, I laughed.

"Well the way I am, that could be very possible," I said. "Nice to meet you too, Mew."

Mew purred, then curled up on her owners lap.

"She's tired," Sey said. "It's been a long day. We were watering plants when my little brother came and brought me to the playground. We saw you on your back right next to a wall. You had a giant red mark in a kickball pattern and a nasty bump on your head. We took you home and iced the bump and it's gone now, as well as the red mark."

"Well that explains the pain," I said. "I must've been gone for hours."

"Yep," she agreed. "About nine to be exact. You can stay here until you remember everything if you'd like."

"Really? Awesome, thank you."

"You're welcome. We should let you have some rest," Sey said as she picked up her cat and walked out of the room.

I turned on my side and went back to sleep. Maybe my memories will come back in a dream or something.

I was sound asleep until I got hit in the face with something cold.

"Oww," I shouted, picking up the item.

"Ice Cream?"

"Yep. That's breakfast," Sey said.

It was safe to say that Sey LOVED the color brown. The only parts of her outfit that wasn't brown were her gray belt and the black headband that kept her light green hair back. She had brown boots with triangles near the top, a furry brown half-shirt and light brown shorts.

"Mew and I were about to hit the town and go shopping, you wanna come? It might make you remember something."

"Sounds good," I said. "I'm always up for some good memory restoring!"

Sey laughed and Mew circled around the doorway.

"That means she's ready to go," Sey said.

"Okay cool," I said as we walked outside.

We were in a small town it looked like. All the houses were the same shade of light blue.

"Y'know, you never told me where we are," I said.

"We are in Purewater Village," Sey told me. "It's a small town right on the outskirts of Radiant Gardens."

"Radiant Gardens... It sounds familiar."

"Really? Looks like shopping will have to wait were goin' to Radiant Gardens," the girl said. "This way."

We walked on a path heading east. I looked to the right and saw a picture of a woman with blue hair. The woman was holding some strange blue and gray weapon that was shaped like a key.

'She looks so familiar,' I thought.

I stopped walking to look at it some more.

"Hey are you coming," Sey asked me.

"That's Aqua," I said pointing to the woman.

"Yes," Sey said. "She's our patron and the village founder. How'd you-"

"Does she live where we're going," I asked.

"Yeah."

"Then she should know about my past," I shouted. "Let's go!"

I grabbed Sey's arm and pulled her along while I fast-walked to find Aqua.

((Frost Path: Path between Radiant Gardens and Purewater Village))

"You can let go of me now," Sey shouted.

I hadn't noticed that I was dragging her along still.

"Sorry," I said, letting go of her arm.

She rubbed her arm gently.

"It's about time too, you could've pulled it off," Sey shouted.

"I said I was sorry," I shouted back.

"Hey, where's Mew," Sey asked looking around.

"MEEEEEEEWW!"

We looked back to see Mew flying at us at full speed.

When she finally got to us she was panting.

"Are you tired, kitty," Sey asked her.

"Meew..." Mew replied, landing on Sey's head.

"Let's keep going, my speed this time," Sey said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Fine..." I replied.

We walked on the path for a few more minutes and we saw a giant castle. When we saw it some more memories came back to me.

"Is that castle Radiant Gardens," I asked.

"That's Hollow Bastion," Sey explained. "It's the biggest castle in Radiant Gardens. Why, do you know about it?"

"Yes I did," I replied. "I see me, Aqua, a guy with gray hair and a girl my age with light brown hair, all sitting together at a table. I also see me and that same girl sitting in a dark room. It looks like we're hiding from something."

"I see, could this girl be your girlfriend," Sey asked, jokingly.

"For all I know, she could've been," I replied.

We continued on towards Hollow Bastion until we ran into two men. One of them was big and held a club. The other was smaller and had a dagger. The first one ran at us. We jumped out of the way, but it seemed he wasn't aiming for us. He snatched Mew and ran back to his friend.

"Mew," we shouted.

The cat was struggling, but it was no use.

"Give us your munny or the cat dies," The smaller guy said.

"Mew! We'll get you out of there I promise," Sey said walking towards them.

"Shut up," the man replied.

He looked up to the bigger man and he smashed Sey with his club.

"Ahhh," she cried as she hit the side of the road.

Without even thinking, I held my arm out with my hand open. It started to glow and then a giant key-shaped weapon appeared.

"Leave us alone," I shouted, readying the weapon.

The two bandits charged at me. The smaller one slashed with his dagger, but I blocked easily. The bigger man swung his club and I side-stepped him, then stabbed his gut, sending little Mew flying to her owner. He tried at me again, but I blocked his club and shot a fire ball out of my hand as I yelled something like "Firaga." He was knocked back and started running away.

"Coward," the remaining bandit shouted to his friend.

He charged but before he got to me I lifted my Key-sword.

"Thundaga," I shouted.

A giant lightning bolt came down and electrocuted my opponent. He fell down, which caused him to lose his dagger. He scrambled towards it but I pointed my blade at his throat.

"Get out," I told him calmly.

He did as I said, tripping over himself, but then he ran screaming. I looked at the amazing weapon in my hand. It was black with gold and red patterns. On the end was a blue gemstone with an open eye.

"Wow! That was amazing," Sey said.

Before I could answer, or even turn around, she tackled me.

"Owww..." I mumbled.

"Mew mew mew mew mew mew," Mew shouted, circling us.

"She says thanks," Sey translated as we got off of the ground.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a... Key... Blade... Yeah, a Keyblade," I said as we continued on.

((Radiant Gardens))

"Well, this is the place," Sey said.

"Now to find Aqua and the rest of those guys," I said.

"It might be best if we check Hollow Bastion first."

We went north towards the big castle. When we got there, we opened the gate and walked up the path. When we were halfway between the castle and the gate, I collapsed. I didn't hit the ground though, because Sey caught me just in time.

"Dude, you okay," she asked.

"I know now," I shouted.

"Huh?"

"Those people with me and Aqua were Riku and Anata! I live at Hollow Bastion! Riku and Aqua trained me! I'm a Keyblade Master! My name is Seth! I've been to other worlds! I remember every-freakin-thing," I shouted as Sey pushed me upright.

"Well then Seth, where are your friends," Sey asked me.

"Well..." I said. "Riku and Aqua are dead and Anata..."

Just then I remembered the battle. I saw me fighting Anata with the intent to kill. Eyes mad and blabbering about some Master Xehanort.

"Anata might be dead too," I said sadly.

"Can you be sure," Sey asked.

"I don't know, but I know someone who might."

I summoned my Chaos Ripper and threw it behind me. It swirled in the air and became my Keyblade Glider. My new friends looked at it in awe as it drove up next to me.

"I have to leave now," I told them.

"Mew," Mew said.

"Now," Sey asked.

"Yeah," I told them. "My friend is on a different world and I gotta know where Anata is."

Sey and Mew looked sad. I smiled at them.

"Don't worry, I'll come back sometime. I live in that castle after all," I said, pointing to Hollow Bastion. "Maybe we can do this again sometime," Sey said.

"Yeah, I'll go to the playground and find your brother," I joked.

We laughed for a little bit. Sey put her hands on my shoulders.

"Take care of yourself, Seth," she said.

Mew meowed in agreement.

"Don't you worry about it," I said as I climbed aboard my Glider.

"Thank you," I shouted as I took off.

"Byee," Sey shouted.

The girl and the cat waved as I set off for The Mysterious Tower.

((Mysterious Tower))

To save me some time, I decided to fly up to Master Yen Sid's window.

I saw the old wizard sleeping in his chair.

"Master," I shouted.

Surprised, he jumped waving his arms everywhere and looked out the window to see a kid on a speeder.

"Seth, I wasn't expecting you," Master Yen Sid said. "And that's cheating."

I landed in the room with a smile on my face.

"No master, what's cheating is having all those stairs," I said.

"What is it you want, my boy," he asked.

"Do you know where Mickey is? I have a hunch that he's no longer in Traverse Town."

"Right you are," Master Yen Sid explained. "He's at his castle."

I got on my Glider again.

"Thank you Master Yen Sid," I told him.

"Anytime," he replied as I set off for Disney Castle.

((Disney Castle))

I landed out by the Courtyard and ran to the castle entrance.

I was confronted by the guards but recognizing me, they let me through. I ran down the hallway until I ran into Daisy.

"Oh! Seth," Daisy exclaimed. "His Majesty was expecting you. Come this way."

"Okay good because I needed to see him," I replied, walking with her.

We walked into The King's Study and Daisy left after being dismissed by The King.

"Mickey," I asked my friend. "What happened? Where's Anata?"

He looked at me with a sad look.

"She didn't die... did she..." I asked, sadly.

"Well, not exactly..." Mickey replied. "Do you remember what happened at Radiant Gardens? I arrived to see you and Anata on the ground."

"We had a fight..." I explained. "I was persuaded by Derak to do terrible things... I was so stupid!"

"Seth calm down," Mickey said, sternly. "It's time you came with me."

We went down the hall and into a room that looked like a train station. On the tracks, I saw a purple train with star and moon patterns that looked familiar.

"Mystery," I shouted.

I ran to the train and gave it a giant hug.

"It's been forevers and evers!"

"Get in the train not on it," Mickey said.

"Okay," I said as we went inside. "Where are we going?"

"Twilight Town," Mickey said. "You might not like what you're gonna see, but you need to see it."


	39. Ch 39: Heartbroken

((Twilight Town))

We arrived at the train station in Twilight Town.

"Anata is here," I asked when we got out.

"Yes," Mickey replied. "Come on."

We went out to Station Plaza and we found the three kids that were here last time.

"Okay, put it down," Hayner said to Pence.

"Kay," he replied.

"She'll never find it here," Olette said to them.

"You bet," Hayner said.

"Must be playing a game," I observed.

"Let's go see Anata," Mickey said walking away.

"Mickey..." I said.

What was troubling him? We went down the ramp at Station Heights and went through an alleyway. We finally stopped at Side Street when we saw a girl in dressed in pink and black with long light brown hair.

"Anata," I shouted in surprise.

"Seth, I gotta warn ya-"

I didn't hear the rest because I was running toward her. I gave her a tight hug then let go.

"Anata I finally found you," I said to her.

She looked surprised.

"Uhm, that's great," she said. "Do I know you?"

"What? Oh, I see," I said. "This is some game! And I bet Mickey was in on it the whole ti-"

I looked back and expected to see the mouse but I turned back to see no one.

"Where'd he go," I asked turning back to Anata.

"I don't know a Mickey... and I don't know you. Sorry," she said.

I am beginning to think this is no game.

"You're not kidding around with me are you," I asked.

As I hoped was false, she nodded.

"No this isn't right," I told her. "You and I, we were a team. Fighting Heartless, taking out G.L.A.S.S, destroying Xemnactus, meeting new people, don't you remember? Auron, Aladdin, Jack, Kupo, Ashe, Max, Alice? Any of them?"

Anata took a step back from me.

"What are you...? You're starting to freak me out."

"You can't be... Do you remember Master Aqua? Your uncle, Riku," I tried again.

"I don't have any uncles," she told me. "I also have no master; did you confuse me with someone else?"

I looked down in defeat. This wasn't Anata or at least, not the Anata I knew. It was as if she lost all our memories together and those of her whole life.

"Heeey! Anata," I heard a voice say.

I turned to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette running towards us.

"C'mon try to find the block," Hayner said. "I'll give you a hint: Trains."

She ran along with them. I glanced at her belt and saw the gem she used to summon Mystery: a purple crystal with a star encased in it. When they left I felt something on my check. It was water. No, a tear. I looked down, making them fall to the brick road.

"Anata..." I said. "ANATA!"

I had my head raised and eyes shut. How could this happen? Who could've done this? Just then I remembered what happened at Radiant Gardens.

A monster had its arms and legs trapped to the ground by Way to Dawn and Stormfall. A little bit away stood Anata, Keyblade raised as the monster howled fiercely.

"Master... be with me," she said softly.

The monster was pulling at the Keyblades, trying to get free.

"Erase," Anata shouted, shooting a purple light out of her Kingdom Key.

Something was wrong.

"What," Anata said. "It's supposed to be-"

She stopped seeing that her laser hit Stormfall and a bright light lit the whole place.

"Damn it," Anata shouted.

The monster gave a blood curdling scream as the whole scene went white.

"I did this..." I realized.

I looked down at my hands, filled with disgust.

"I'm terrible..." I continued, collapsing on my hands and knees.

Mickey appeared again to see me on my hands and knees, the area under me a little darkener then the rest from tears. He summoned his Star Seeker and pointed it me.

"Establish," he shouted as a light hit his target.

My vision went black and I fell on the ground in a comatose state.

The King went back to the Station Plaza to get back to his kingdom.

"He'll be alright." He said. "I just know it...,"

I saw a girl in white talking to Mickey about our conditions.

She said something about my memories coming back and Anata's having a small chance of returning. I saw Mickey with a comatose Anata on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town. He raised his Keyblade and light went everywhere. I saw Mickey and Anata in a house. Anata was lying on a sofa and The King was standing over her, tears in his eyes. Anata woke up and looked at him as he ran off. After a while I stood up. Tears still seeping through my eyes I summoned my Keyblade Glider. I left Anata's new home with water rushing behind me as I flew.

((Lanes Between))

I didn't care where I went, as long as I was alone.

I flew aimlessly until I found a peaceful island. It looked like a good spot, so I landed.

((Destiny Islands))

I landed in front of a bridge overlooking the sea.

The sun was setting as I walked across the bridge. I went to the edge of the small piece of land and sat there. I buried my face into my hands trying to process everything that happened.

"Us seven, huh," I said remembering what The King told us after the fight in Traverse Town.

"Well," I started. "Three are gone; two are missing, and one doesn't wield a Keyblade!"

I jumped to my feet then continued.

"What does that leave us with?! Tell me, what," I shouted to the ocean, summoning my Keyblade. "I'll tell you what, this is WHAT!"

I threw my Chaos Ripper out into the ocean, and I watched it sink, darkness emanating from it.

"To add to that list, one has fallen to the dark..." I finished, sitting back down again, shedding more water for the ocean.


	40. Ch 40: Together Again

"Not as I planed but it'll work out in the end I guess," I heard someone say.

I turned around to find a Dark Corridor swirling behind me. Out of the portal came the last person I wanted to see.

"I hear Anata's gone A-wall," Derak said. "What a shame. I planned on you taking her down."

I jumped to my feet and summoned my Keyblade.

"Why did you do all of this," I asked in anger. "I never did anything to you!"

"See all this," Derak asked, lifting up his arms.

"What of it," I asked him.

"Well as a creation of darkness, I naturally want it all gone, along with the rest of the worlds," he explained. "I found that if you want something done, then make others do it for you. If you weren't gonna die here, I just might've kept this place in the light, just for you."

He summoned his Void Gear and got into his fighting stance.

"I am a Heartless, and soon so will everyone else!"

Darkness flowed out of Derak's body as he transformed the platform into a dark island with raging winds.

'This is for Anata,' I thought as I got ready for battle.

I charged at Derak, ready to slash but he side-stepped me and slammed me in the back with the hilt of his blade.

I flipped back up and tried again. He jumped over me so I slashed behind and got him. He made a thud as he hit the ground and I casted a Thundaga that almost missed the target.

"How is it that a Heartless has a Keyblade," I asked him.

"I was created by dark energy and a humanoid form," he said simply. "I probably would've been different if the idiot scientist made me a heart."

"All you want is a heart?"

"No. Not at all," he chuckled. "The heart makes you feel, makes you weak. I got to where I am today without one of those things holding me back," he said cutting at me.

I jumped back a couple times, but he appeared behind me and cut me down. Unfortunately, I retaliated slowly and he got me again with a Dark Firaga.

"If you feel weaker, then I did my job," Derak said walking towards me.

"That wasn't Dark Firaga, that was an Energy Vacuum. It took away your energy through darkness which because of me, you have lots of," Derak pointed his Keyblade at me with a maniacal laugh. "Now to be rid of you!"

Just when he thought it was over, I tripped him with my left foot and shot a Blizzaga right in his face.

"What's the matter? Catch a cold," I asked him.

"I'll destroy you for that," he replied. "Also for that cheesy joke!"

When he stood up I stuck my blade into the ground and charged at him.

"Uppercut of the Afterlifetime," I shouted, initiating my favorite attack.

I hit him in the chin which made him fly up in the air.

"Thundaga," I casted.

The lightning bolt I summoned made him go towards the ground. I ran over to where he was gonna fall, getting ready for the next phase.

"Sonic Blade," I shouted.

The technique caused my speed to increase allowing me to slash him seven times before my enemy could even react. As soon as he could move, I got him with a Barrier Surge. He flew a little bit farther in front of me so I threw a Strike Raid to finally get him to the ground.

"How do ya like that," I asked him "No mercy from me!"

He slowly got up and the only reason I didn't run over there was because all those attacks really took a toll on my strength, not to mention the Energy Vacuum from before. Derak summoned a dark purple orb in his hand. He lifted his hand to the sky and shot the orb up into the air. It hit the moon and it shone a light on my enemy. It made everything go white and I was pushed to the ground.

When I got up, Derak looked the same as before, except for the fact that his shirt was gone and there was light blue static electricity climbing up and down his body. He also had a Heartless symbol on his back and had yellow beady eyes; like a Shadow. He picked up his Keyblade, which was slightly different than before, and charged at me. The blade seemed to have gained a dark red color than being just white and black. I was still on the ground at this point, so I jumped to my feet. I shot a Firaga and he replied with his own Dark Firaga. They collided and exploded sending us to the edges of the opposite sides of the area.

"Enter the darkness," Derak shouted, dashing towards me.

"No not again," I shouted back, running towards him.

We met in the middle and slashed at each other with the intent to kill. Our attacks were perfect mirror images of each other, which made us fly back to the edges again. I stuck my Chaos Ripper into the ground and I jumped up high into the air. I hovered there, generating an orb of light into my hands. In my left hand appeared Anata's Kingdom Key and in the right, appeared The Ends of the Earth; my original Keyblade. The orb then went to my back and produced Riku's Way to Dawn and Aqua's Stormfall. I let the four Keys drift, Ends of the Earth in front of me, Kingdom Key to my right, Way to Dawn behind me, and Stormfall to my left. I summoned my Chaos Ripper back and pointed it at the Heartless. All my Keyblades shone with light and darkness, generating my final attack.

"The game has ended," I told him. "You are done."

Derak didn't seem to believe me. He propelled himself into the air, flying at me.

"Friends... Be with me," I said.

"Energy Vacuum," Derak shouted, shooting the blast at me.

I knew that against my power it wasn't gonna do a thing.

"Inverse Breaker," I shouted.

Rays of light and dark flashed out of my Keyblades, destroying its target, along with the attack that was shot at me. When it was finished, the Ends of the Earth disappeared into the light. The other three Keyblades fell to the ground and I along with them. While I was falling, The Island returned to its normal state and I hit the sandy beach I came to before the fight.

The Three Keyblades stuck into the sand and I hit the ground in between the Kingdom Key and Way to Dawn, Stormfall next to the later. My Chaos Ripper disappeared as well and I looked up at the light blue sky.

"This place... is so peaceful..." I said, trying to stay conscious.

I looked over to the Kingdom Key and let out a little chuckle.

"Looks like I kicked your ass at the light attacks, huh," I said as my eyes drooped.

I woke up after a while to see the sun starting to set. I got up, brushed the sand off of me, and summoned my Glider. I picked up all the Keyblades and flew off.

((Radiant Gardens))

I arrived back home and went to Hollow Bastion.

I walked through the castle and stuck Aqua and Riku's Keyblades back into the ground. Right next to Stormfall, I stuck in the Kingdom Key.

"There you are guys," I said to the blades.

I went inside and came back out with four Sea-Salt Ice Creams. I placed them in front of the Keys and had the remaining one in my hand.

"Well," I said. "We're finally together again. Eat up!"

I bit into my ice cream, tasting the odd chemical make up of sweetness with a salty aftertaste. Even if only the Keyblades of my friends were here, I felt like their spirits were with them as well. After I finished my ice cream and the other ones melted, I laid down in the grass. I closed my eyes and put my hand on my heart.

"I might never see you again, but you will always be... in here: My Heart."


	41. Ch 41: Publishing

((Radiant Gardens: Current Time. Michael))

"There you have it, my life's story," the old man said after he finished. "Best damn story you've heard, right?"

I was shocked! Who knew the old man's story would be so riveting?

"Got it written down I see," Seth said.

Again. SHOCKED! He didn't even look under the table where I had my notepad!

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "How'd you-"

"I knew you were gonna write as soon as you asked for a story," he simply said, cutting me off.

There was obviously more to this guy then met the eye.

"Well what did you do after all that," I asked.

"I traveled the worlds, keeping them safe. Mostly traveled between Disney Castle, Mysterious Tower, Twilight Town and here. Master Yen Sid gave me missions, I visited King Mickey, and I watched over Anata to make sure she didn't get into trouble..."

As he said this, a look of sadness appeared in Seth's eyes. I didn't know what to say but one thing was for sure: this dude had it rough. But then he bounced back and continued.

"But when I was home, I hung out with Sey and Mew sometimes her sister and brother were with us."

I looked down at the table.

"I don't know how I'd survive if it was me doin' all that," I thought out loud.

"I'm sure you would've done fine," he said. "That was a tough two years though... The next twelve weren't that great either."

'Wait, twelve,' I thought.

"Just out of curiosity, how old are ya, Seth," I asked.

"I am twenty-eight."

"Twenty-eight," I exclaimed. "That's only eight years older than I am!"

Seth motioned at me to keep my voice down.

'He looks at least thirty years older than he really is! I guess that's what the darkness does to you, and a rough life,' I thought.

"What are ya doin in a bar then, Jackson? Eight years younger would make you twenty."

"Ehehh... what's one year, right," I asked him."

He shrugged.

"Don't ya have to turn in some paper or something," Seth asked.

I looked at my phone and it read 6:00am. six am? My first class is in two hours! I jumped up from the bar stool.

"I-I gotta get going," I said. "Nice to meet you Seth."

"Nice to meet you too," Seth replied.

Just when I made my way through the almost empty tavern, I heard Seth again.

"Michael!"

I looked over to Seth.

"Yeah," I asked.

"Michael Jackson? Were your parents high or somethin'?"

I waved my hand at him and left.

"And I thought he was cool," I complained as I ran back to WGU.

I burst through the door, making a loud noise and sat at the desk in my dorm. I noticed that Chase wasn't there, but I didn't care I had to get this story typed up!

((WGU: English room: 8:03am))

*BAAAAM!*

I kicked the door like I did earlier.

Damn, that's fun! Pr. Z didn't think so. Professor Alexander Z was my English professor, in case you couldn't figure that out. Was his full last name Z? Yes, yes it was.

"Jackson, you better have a good explanation of why you're late," Pr. Z said.

"I got my story, Z," I shouted, slamming the book on his desk. "All thirty-six chapters of greatness!"

The man looked up at me with a strange look.

"Thirty-six? The minimum was thrity-five. Comparing this to your last assignments, this is over-achieving."

"You're so funny Professor..." I said, sarcastically.

I went up the stairs and took my seat next to my best friend Kylee in the middle row.

"So glad you could make it," she said, sarcastically.

"Oh God, you too," I asked.

She chuckled.

"I should have these graded by the end of next week everyone," Pr. Z told us.

"Today, we are going to be researching a topic for a group project. Group maximum is five and minimum is two."

Naturally, my group was just Kylee and myself.

"So, what was your story about," Kylee asked me after classes were over.

"I found this war survivor and he told me his life story," I replied.

"Sounds boring," she chuckled

"It's far from it. Some of the stuff is so different and interesting, I don't understand it."

"Well, enough talk about school, lets get some Sea-Salt Ice Cream."

"I'm all for that," I exclaimed.

**_Kingdom Hearts: The Story of a Man Named Seth_**


	42. Epilouge

It's been at least a month after I talked to Seth in The Castle Tavern.

I got my story back, and I got 100%. Pr. Z said it was too good to be true which is funny, since it WAS true! I went to Hollow Bastion, which is where Seth said he lived, so I could thank him for the good grade and great story.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

I waited for a little bit until the door opened. When it did the smile on my face turned to a horrified look while I leaped back and screamed like a little girl! Anyone else in my situation would've done the same since I had a freaking Keyblade up in my face! Seth was there holding the Chaos Ripper Keyblade and motioned me to get inside. I ran in and he closed the door soon after. I looked at him and he looked mad! He grabbed my arm and ran, dragging me across the floor. We stopped behind a sofa and he let go of me.

"What's the big idea, bro," I asked him.

"What are you doing here," he asked me.

"I wanted to thank you for the story and for my excellent 100% grade," I told him. "Do you do this with all your guests?"

"No. I sensed a great darkness outside and I thought it was you," he said.

"What?"

"It could be here any second," he explained. "By myself I could've gotten out of here safely. But with you slowing me down..."

"Hey! Uncalled for," I shouted, knowing he was right.

Suddenly, we heard a large THUD outside the door.

"W-What was that," I asked.

"That must be the darkness I sensed earlier," he answered. "We need to lure it away from the town. Come on."

We crawled to the back door. Seth summoned his Keyblade Glider and we flew off into the distance.

"I never asked for any of this," I shouted.

"Well that's your problem, isn't it," Seth yelled back.

I decided that he won that argument.

We ended up by an abandoned shack and we took cover inside. We ducked behind a cabinet and sat there.

"I'm going to have a look outside. Stay down," Seth said as he looked out.

I decided to go against those orders and looked with him. I saw a figure walk towards the shack and as it got closer, it got more familiar. It was a man about my age with blonde hair. He wore a white shirt and dark green cargo pants. On his neck, he had a necklace that donned a strange symbol.

"I know him," I said.

"What's that," my friend said looking at me.

"That's Chase, my roommate."

"You know this guy," he asked me.

"It's not like he's a friend! He's more of an acquaintance. Didn't have much friends."

"Well he couldn't," Seth added. "Because this 'Chase' is a Heartless."

I was surprised.

"A Heartless? I thought you killed them all off in Traverse Town," I said.

"So did I, but it appears to be false," Seth said. "I'm gonna take it on. You stay here."

"But Seth-"

"Michael, I wouldn't have got to where I am today if I thought I couldn't do this."

I had to give him that.

"Fine," I said as he rushed off to battle.

He wasn't out there long, because he came back in just as fast as he left. Seth was propelled through the doorway and hit the floor. He jumped behind the cabinet next to me and a deadly purple beam charred the area he was before.

"What the hell is going on out there," I asked him.

"That Chase fellow is actually Derak," Seth said.

His eyes went wide.

"MOVE," he shouted as he Dodge Rolled to my position.

I moved back as he instructed and I'm glad I did because another purple blast destroyed the cabinet Seth just was at. He sighed. That doesn't seem good. He summoned his Chaos Ripper and pointed it up.

**"In your hand, take this Key," **he told me.

Reluctantly I grabbed the handle, and he let go.

**"So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, it's wielder you shall one day be."**

"Seth..." I said.

The Keyblade Master continued.

**"And you will find me, friend- no ocean will contain you then. No more boarders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." **

The Keyblade started to glow in my hand. Seth held out his own and I gave the Keyblade back.

"There," he said. "If I don't make it, go find Master Yen Sid at the Mysterious Tower. He can help you. After this it could be all up to you."

With that, he left.

I was speechless.

'If he doesn't make it...' I thought.

I looked beyond the cabinet and watched the battle. Keyblades were flying and so were darkness and light. Spells were casted, damage was caused and I was the only one to witness the battle that would decide the fate of everyone in the universe.

After a while, Chase- I mean... Derak, was thrown to the ground. Thinking it was over, Seth walked calmly to his long-time enemy, defeating him as he did all those years ago. But as if nothing happened, Derak jumped up and stabbed Seth in the chest, releasing a purple-ish red heart-shaped orb into the air. Seth looked surprised and a second later, his lifeless body was thrown to the ground. Derak had a blood thirsty look in his eyes and he looked to the sky and laughed an evil laugh. Without my evil roommate noticing, I snuck out the hole he made in the doorway and ran the other direction. After what seemed like a mile, I stopped to catch my breath. I held out my hand, experimentally. Just as I thought, The Chaos Ripper appeared. I threw it up in the air, like Seth did, and The Keyblade Glider came down to me. I looked at it with sad eyes.

"All... Up to me now..." I said.

I climbed onto the vehicle and rode off into the sky, wondering what was to come.

_Book of Michael_


End file.
